Rakitan Industries and Kaiba Corporation
by K5Rakitan
Summary: With Seto struggling to keep up with the ruthless business practices of Bakura and the other CEOs who rule the world, how will the Kaiba family cope? Sequel to "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy." Silentshipping Seto x Serenity, Polarshipping Joey x Mai, Foreshipping Ishizu x Yugi, Hallshipping, and more! Multi-character fic.
1. The Whole World is Watching

**Author's Note:** This is part 2 of "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy". Although "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy" is a prequel to this, it is also a rewrite of the first story I ever wrote with a lot more material in the beginning.

**Warning: **There will be lemons/sexual content in this story, but not in this first chapter. I will provide adequate warning to those who do not wish to read them.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! and I am not making any money by doing this. Rakitan Industries is not affiliated with Rakitan Komputer. All corporations mentioned in this story are fictional, and any resemblance that the OCs have to real, actual persons is merely coincidental.

**Music Lover's Alert:** If you like to listen to music while you read, I recommend "To The Moon and Back" by Savage Garden.

**Chapter 1 The Whole World is Watching**

Serenity Wheeler stood at the alter of Our Lady of Faith Church holding a bouquet of pink and white flowers. Her long, straight auburn hair was covered with a sheer yellow veil, and her soft olivine eyes glistened with happiness. An elegant pink, almost white dress with classic feminine ruffles covered her graceful form.

Beside her stood Tea, a woman with short brown hair and azure eyes. Although it was actually Mai Valentine who encouraged Serenity's relationship with her fiancé during its early stages, Tea had been Serenity's friend much longer. Therefore, Tea took the Maid of Honor role. Plus, she looked fabulous in the lemon yellow bridesmaid dress that Serenity had picked with her.

On the other side of the church stood a tall man with brown hair of about twenty five. His electric blue eyes locked on her with a passion and intensity that the world had not witnessed since Romeo and Juliet. He wore a light blue tuxedo with a navy blue bow tie. Seto Kaiba had fast-tracked Serenity's childhood dreams by putting her through nursing school right after she graduated from high school. Unlike most women of twenty, Serenity's maturity and responsibility allowed her to skip four years of regular university experience before embarking on her career path. Now that she had a solid career and she still loved him, he was marrying her.

Beside Seto stood his younger brother Mokuba. Mokuba stood almost ten centimeters shorter than his older brother, but what he lacked in height he made up for in muscle. His long black hair flowed easily over his shoulders and his violet eyes gave him an exotic look that many women found alluring. Like his brother, he wore a light blue tuxedo with a dark blue tie.

Between Seto and Serenity stood an elderly priest who looked as if he should have retired ten years ago. His weak voice uttered, "Now, the couple will exchange vows which they have written themselves instead of the traditional vows."

Seto started. "Serenity, out of all the people I have ever met, you are the most kind-hearted and patient of them all. You have brought out a side of me that I thought my step-father had squashed. Now, I promise to protect and cherish you as my wife for as long as I live. I also promise not to insult your older brother anymore."

From the first pew in the church, a blond man of twenty three years grinned broadly. He almost opened his mouth to comment, but one stern look from him gorgeous buxom wife silenced him. Seto glanced at him briefly. There was something else he thought he was supposed to say, but it did not strike him as very important. Besides, Joey's smug face made him decide to keep his mouth shut before he made any other promises that might be difficult to keep.

Serenity pretended not to notice her brother squirming in the pew. Instead, she simply looked back at Seto and recited her own vows. "Seto, over the past five years you have been such a great friend to me. You cared for me while I was injured and supported me in achieving my dreams. Now, I promise to love you in sickness and in health, for better or for worse; I will love you no matter what happens." Serenity paused as if she was about to say more, but forgot what it was. Whatever she was about to say, it could not have been too important because, after her brief hesitation, she smiled to indicate that she was finished speaking.

Serenity and Seto then exchanged rings, and the priest validated their vows. Seto then threw his arms around his wife and kissed her while their witnesses cheered. Although Our Lady of Faith Church was huge, their guests only filled the first two pews. Seto had only invited two guests: his brother and his secretary Ms. Brown, who never smiled. He had only invited her on Serenity's suggestion because it was either her or Yugi, and he felt that the wedding would be intolerable with his arch rival present.

Serenity had invited several guests including her good friend Tea, her brother Joey, and several cousins. Since Serenity and Seto's parents were all deceased, they invited Mai Wheeler's parents as honorary guests. Like their daughter Mai, Mr. and Mrs. Valentine were spunky enough to breathe life into any party no matter how small it was.

As the newlywed Kaibas and their guests made their way to the wedding reception, the Valentines were already stealing the show. Seto found their presence quite a relief because he had no interest in entertaining the Wheeler family.

They were half-way through their meal when Ms. Brown got a call on her cell-phone and answered it without excusing herself from the table. Even though she was supposed to be celebrating with the guests, she still wore a drab brown dress and pulled her brown hair into a simple, professional bun. "Is there any damage to the files?" she said quickly and efficiently. After a few moments of listening, she replied, "I'll inform him," and hung up the phone.

Seto looked at his secretary with an icy gaze that did not seem to phase her at all. "What happened?" he growled.

"Kaiba Corporation has been hacked," Ms. Brown replied. She gazed back at him with an equally icy stare. Her eyes were the color of withered, frozen leaves.

"What!?" Seto and Mokuba both yelled simultaneously, jumping to their feet. The other guests simply stared at them in shock.

"It's all under control. Our system is secure again," the secretary said smoothly.

"Did you apprehend the hacker?" Seto said.

"What did he want?" Mokuba quickly interjected.

"The hacker copied all of our financial records, but didn't leave a trance that could lead back to him. He did, however, leave a short note," Ms. Brown said.

"What did the note say?" Serenity asked in wide-eyed wonder.

"The whole world is watching."

The wedding guests gasped. They had not heard that phrase spoken aloud in four years. It had been one of the many protest chants used by former citizens of countries all over the world that had been bought by corporations. Bakura, the CEO of Global Enterprises, had masterminded the whole operation. Bakura's butcher Gilbert Jones, the CEO of Stellar Defense, had facilitated their rise to power by squashing all resistance movements with satellite weapons. Ever since then, any talk of opposition to the corporate oligarchy was spoken in hushed tones. People tried to carry on their normal lives with varying degrees of success. Since Seto Kaiba himself held a small vote in all decisions made by the oligarchy and many CEOs enjoyed living on the island where Japan used to be because of its rich culture and abundant coastal areas, the island remained insulated from the changes that occurred in other parts of the world.

"Watching?" Seto said with a short laugh, "It's about time."

The other guests laughed nervously, and then went back to their dinners.

**Closing Note and Call for Reviews: **What did Seto and Serenity forget to say to each other? This comes into play later, so review and guess and if you get it right, you'll get to name one of the minor OCs who pops up later. Just to give you an idea, here are some of the characters who need names:

Mokuba's college friend who sets him up on a blind date

Mokuba's blind date

Tristan's college roommate

The Kaiba mansion's original chef (he's kind-of a jerk)

If enough people guess correctly, I'll have Mokuba's college friend set him up on more blind dates and/or write one-shots!


	2. Warming Up

**Music Lover's Alert: **"The Way It Is" by Bruce Hornsby

**Warnings:** Strong sexually suggestive themes. Consider this a teaser. I hope to leave enough to give you an idea of the relationship dynamics, but not so much that those for you who can't stand lemons would be put off by it. For those of you who love lemons, they will be in the next chapter… right where we left off!

**Chapter 2 Sorting**

Joan, Penguin, Pretty Pictures, Sean, and Tulip sat around a huge round oak table. Over the past four years, they had formed a secret organization with the intention of helping the world re-gain the liberties it had lost. At the suggestion of Penguin, the publicity guru of the organization, Pretty Pictures and Tulip had adopted code names. However, Joan and Sean opted to continue using the names they had known all their lives for most circumstances. Joan had a second alias, Kari Rakitan, but she only used it when signing legal documents to protect the location and identities of her friends.

Several file folders were strewn haphazardly over the huge oak table. Tulip picked up a thin one with "Kaiba Corporation" printed on it and tossed it into a stack with several other thin folders.

"Hey! You didn't even open that one!" Joan protested. Her gold-specked blue eyes flashed slightly with indignation.

Tulip brushed a strong of long sand-colored hair that had fallen out of his pony tail out of his face and tucked it behind his ear as he straightened his glasses. "Kaiba Corporation is essentially clean. They had a shady history in the arms business, but otherwise… we've got bigger fish to fry."

"All right," Joan conceded. She leaned over the table and rested her chin in her hand. "Continue."

Tulip picked up a larger file and opened it. "Bestle Corporation: produces cheap candies and chocolates. They cut down most of the Amazon rain forest to grow cocoa beans. Their farmers work fourteen hours every day to earn starvation wages." Tulip snapped the file shut. "That's something worthy of tackling, right?"

Everyone around the table nodded and Tulip tossed in a tall stack of thick folders. Then, he picked up another one. "Schroeder Corporation: Produces electronics, appliances, and cars. They incorporate weak fuses and generally practice shoddy workmanship so that their products break down shortly after purchase."

Several snickers issued forth from the group.

Penguin rolled her eyes and said, "We knew that."

"Yeah, but do you want to do something about it?" Tulip asked.

"Of course," Joan answered.

Tulip tossed it in the thick stack of folders. Then, he picked up another. "Pattel Corporation: Makes plastic dolls and other toys. They use child labor in mainland Asia to manufacture them. Plus, they use harsh chemicals in the manufacturing process that produce toxic fumes throughout their factories. They also expel several tons of sludge into nearby rivers daily."

"What territory are they in?" Joan wondered.

"China," Tulip replied.

"Figures. Let's tackle that one," Joan said.

They continued to sort through the files until they were all categorized into two stacks. The companies they chose to pay attention to were those who committed the worst crimes against humanity. Coincidentally, they were also the largest companies and the most powerful members of the corporate oligarchy that now controlled the world.

When all the files were sorted, Pretty Pictures yawned and said, "Finally!" Her dark curly hair and rich olive skin made her look like a sleepy exotic princess.

"OK everyone. Tomorrow is going to be another long day. In the morning, we'll single out one of our high priority corporations to target. For now, let's get to bed.

The team captains nodded and went their separate ways. Since they were all living and working together in an abandoned military facility that had once been used to train thousands of soldiers, they did not have far to walk to reach their beds. Sean, the handsome red-headed leader of the action team, had received his own training in this very facility. However, thanks to the advanced satellite weapons provided by Stellar Defense and a few highly trained agents, massive numbers of soldiers were no longer needed or desired by society.

Sean sighed as he walked through the nearly empty hallway. The life he now led was not the one he expected to lead. After serving in the army, he expected to settle down with a pretty girl or three and live happily ever after. However, due to the missionary attitude of their organization's leader Joan, he couldn't even flirt with a woman. Sean turned the handle on the door to his room and opened it. What he saw inside made him freeze. There, in his bed sat a familiar blonde in unfamiliar clothing. Sean blinked a few times before the black lingerie that greeted his eyes fully registered in his brain. "Tam!?" he asked in surprise.

**Chapter 2.5 Honeymoon**

Seto and Serenity left the wedding reception feeling a little tired, but still alive and excited. At least, Serenity was excited. She had seen several penises during her internships in nursing school changing bedpans, but she had never seen her husband's penis. Mai had given them an encouraging wink as she left the party, which made Seto more nervous than excited. When he saw Mai wink, his mind raced, wondering what his sister-in-law had discussed with his wife. He only hoped that he would not be too much of a disappointment to her.

Seto and Serenity got into the Kaiba Corporation business jet, which had been temporarily furnished with a king size bed. Then, they prepared for takeoff by fastening their seatbelts in the white leather seats that always sat in the jet. It would take several hours for the plane to reach France, their destination, so they would have plenty of time to enjoy the flight. Serenity squeezed Seto's hand as the plane ascended. "I can't believe our first time is going to be above the clouds!" she squealed.

"You know, we could always do this another time," Seto said, keeping his voice as steady as possible.

"No way!" Serenity cried, gazing at Seto with hurt in her luminous olivine eyes, "wait, that was just a joke, right? Please tell me you were joking."

Seto's electric blue eyes locked onto hers. She looked so innocent and vulnerable… maybe even more vulnerable than he felt. Perhaps this would not be so bad after all. "Of course I'm joking. Tonight, I want nothing more than to make love to you," he said with as much tenderness as he could muster. Then, he sealed his statement by kissing her gently.

Butterflies flitted inside Serenity's stomach as Seto kissed her. He always knew how to make her feel loved. However, Serenity wanted more than his soft and caring touch. She wanted him to sweep her off her feet and carry her to bed where they would rip off each other's clothes. Then, he would thrust himself into her with passionate desire. However, Seto was treating her like a china doll rather than a fully grown, healthy woman.

Serenity noticed that the "fasten seat belt" sign was turned off, and reached over to unbuckle Seto's seatbelt without breaking their kiss. She rubbed the exterior of his light blue tuxedo pants, hoping to arouse him enough to awaken his carnal instincts. To her dismay, Seto just moaned a little and squirmed rather than making any moves to claim her.

Finally, Serenity broke the kiss, unbuckled her seatbelt, and stood. She took him by the hand and said, "Come on! Let's take this to the next level!"

**Closing Notes:** This was originally two chapters, but I spliced out the stronger lemon portions and put them in the next chapter.

I have had absolutely zero guesses on the "forgotten" marriage vows. There is still plenty of time to make your guesses before the answer is revealed and I will accept multiple winners, so please guess! I am looking for something in particular, but I'll take any phrase that gives the general gist of what they left out.

By clicking "next" I certify that I am of legal age to view erotic content in my locality. I understand that if I am not of legal age, I should go up to the top of this page and use the drop-down menu to skip ahead to chapter 4.


	3. Double Lemon

**Warning: **Double Lemon. If you are not old enough to read erotic content in your locality, please skip this chapter.

**Music Lover's Alert: "**Unspoken" by Cascada for the first part. No music for the second part… unless someone has something that might work for it. Let me know!

**Chapter 3 Forbidden Fruit**

The girl put a finger to her lips and gazed at him with seductive amber eyes. A small candle stood on the bed stand, sending dim flickering light around the room. It reflected off of a 17th century sword collection that Sean had inherited from someone in his family. Since he came from a long line of warriors, Sean was skilled in almost every martial art known to man. However, he felt a little rusty in the art of making love.

Sean took a deep breath and entered the room. He closed the door firmly behind him and approached the bed. When he was close enough to her, he whispered, "Tam, what are you doing? Do you realize how much trouble we could get in for this?"

Tam nodded, but threw her arms around his shoulders as if she had not heard him at all. "Nobody needs to know," she whispered before pulling him down to her and kissing him fiercely.

It had been so long since Sean had experienced a woman's touch that he felt powerless to resist it. As Tam nipped at his lower lip and thrust her tongue into his mouth, he felt his knees go weak and tumbled onto the bed. Before he could regain his normally exceptional strength, he felt a hand trailing up his rock-hard abs just beneath his shirt. Deciding to go with the flow, he lifted up his arms and allowed her to take off his shirt. Tam broke her lip-lock with him as she pulled his shirt over his head, and then started kissing every inch of his lean, strong torso. Sean ran his fingers through her natural dirty blond hair as she felt the growing bulge in his cargo pants with her hands.

Sean bit back moans of growing excitement while Tam undid his belt buckle and unzipped his trousers. His eager erection popped up as soon as it was released, and Tam quickly engulfed it in her mouth. With one free hand, she pushed him back on the bed so that he was lying flat. Then, using his penis as a pivot point, she swung her lean, muscular body over him so that she was straddling his face.

Sean ran his hands over her tight thighs and buttocks as she pleasured him. He admired the way her black thong moistened at his touch for several minutes, teasing her and causing her to suck his cock more enthusiastically than she was already. Slowly, he slid the thong down her long, graceful legs to reveal the most beautiful orchid he could ever remember seeing. He ran his tongue over it, tasting her fresh, hot arousal fluid. Then, he latched onto her clitoris and sucked gently while the thrust one finger inside her. Tam sucked him furiously as he added a second finger and pumped her.

He felt himself nearing climax and tried to increase the amount of pleasure that he was giving her enough to send her over the edge as well, but it was too late. He could not hold back his load any longer, and shot it straight into her mouth. Tam slurped it up like she was drinking a milkshake through a straw.

Determined to bring her satisfaction as well, Sean focused on bringing her to orgasm rather than simply reveling in his own bliss. After several more minutes, his efforts paid off and her juices ran down all over his face. Tam rolled off of him and collapsed by his side, hugging his legs to her small breasts, which were still covered by a little black bra.

After she re-gained her composure, she inverted herself on the bed so that she was looking into Sean's chocolate brown eyes instead of his pants. She kissed him on the forehead, then on the lips, tasting her own fluids there. "I should get going before morning comes. Sweet dreams," she whispered.

Sean grinned. "You realize I'm not going to give you any special treatment tomorrow, right?" He rolled onto his side, grabbed her hip with his hand, and drew her closer to him. Then, he kissed her back, sliding his tongue between her teeth to see if he could find any remnants of his own love juice in her mouth. She had polished it off his semen with remarkable efficiency, leaving not a single trace of it behind. He wondered where she had learned to do that, but decided that it was not any of his business.

Tam gave him one last kiss, then climbed out of bed and got to her feet. "I don't expect any preferential treatment from you tomorrow. I know as well as you do that people would notice. What happens here stays here." Tam pulled a pile of clothes that she had stashed under his bed and got dressed. She wore a pair of grey sweatpants and a matching turtleneck. Both articles of clothing were once black, but they had faded from repeated laundry cycles.

"Will I see you again?" Sean asked.

"O f course you will. I'm a member of you team," Tam said with a soft laugh.

"Maybe I should have been more specific. I meant to say, 'Will you come back in here and give me another blow job,'" Sean clarified.

"Absolutely," Tam said.

Tam left Sean's quarters as quietly as she could and crept back to her own room. Then, the two of them drifted off to sleep with a warm glow in their hearts.

**Chapter 3.5 Mile High Club**

Serenity led Seto over to the bed, slipped his blue tuxedo jacket off his shoulders, and laid it aside. Then, she embraced him tightly, running her hands up his back underneath his white silk shirt. Seto realized that the clothes had to come off sooner or later, and that he would rather see her naked first. So, he reached around her back and fumbled with the zipper unsuccessfully.

Serenity giggled. "Need help?"

Seto wanted to say no, but it was clear to him that he would just make an even bigger fool of himself if he continued to try. He nodded in resignation. Then, Serenity reached her hands behind her own back and deftly undid the clasp that prevented the zipper from moving. She slid the zipper down her back, and the dress rolled off her shoulders. She let it fall to the floor and stepped out of it, revealing a matching set of lacy pink undergarments. Seto gulped and loosened his bow tie.

Serenity stepped towards Seto once again and pressed her hips into his, arching her back and leaning her torso away from him. Her pink C cup bra pushed her breasts together so that Seto was staring down into her cleavage. Serenity reached her nimble fingers up to his neck and unbuttoned his shirt easily. She looked up at him and smiled sweetly. Seto forced himself to smile back at her. The tension was almost unbearable.

Serenity pulled back Seto's shirt to reveal a lean, bony frame. She kissed his chest. Then moved lower, kissing her way down to his belly button. She unzipped his pants and let them fall to the floor. She was about to pull down his black briefs when Seto abruptly grabbed her arms and pulled her up so that he could kiss her aggressively on the mouth. _Finally!_ Serenity thought, _this is the man I married._ Seto pushed her backward onto the bed and climbed on top of her. He then ravished her chin and neck, working his way down to her breasts. Serenity unclasped her bra for him, and her bountiful bosom popped out of it. At the sight of her pale pink nipples, Seto felt himself instantly grow hard. He only hoped that she wouldn't laugh when he finally showed himself.

Seto played with Serenity's breasts and licked her nipples with his tongue, causing her to moan and roll her hips back and forth. "You like that, don't you?" Seto said with a smirk.

"I do! I do, I do, I do!" Serenity replied with a huge grin.

Seto kissed Serenity lower, and slid her pink panties off her perfectly formed hips to reveal a glistening orchid surrounded by a mass of dark, curly hair. It was so small and delicate that he breathed a sigh of relief. _Here goes nothing,_ he thought to himself. He pulled off his briefs to reveal an appendage that was about the size of Serenity's middle finger.

"Oh Seto!" Serenity exclaimed.

"What?" Seto asked as if he had sand in his throat.

"It's so _cute_!"

Seto looked at her with a perplexed expression on his face.

"Come on, hot stuff! Show me what that cock of yours can do," Serenity urged.

"You're the nurse. You show _me_," Seto replied.

"All right! I will!" Serenity slid out from under him and flipped him over so that he was lying on his back. Then, she straddled him, grabbed his dick, and guided it inside her.

Seto gasped in pleasure as Serenity's warmth engulfed him. Serenity let out a low moan as she felt her husband's hard instrument inside her. She rocked back and forth on top of it, enjoying the way it connected with her g-spot.

After only a few moments, Seto climaxed. His semen spewed into her, and then he was all finished. Serenity frowned, got off of him, and lay beside him quietly for a while.

"Seto, have you been masturbating like I told you?" Serenity wondered.

Seto reddened deeply. "I haven't had the time."

Serenity was quiet again for a while. "I masturbated for you," she finally said softly.

Seto was tongue-tied. He could not think of a good excuse for his premature ejaculation, so he just stared up at the curved ceiling of the aircraft and cursed himself for not taking the medical advice she had offered him years ago seriously.

"Well, I'm sure you'll get better. You just need to work on it. We'll do it together, even," Serenity said in an attempt to reassure him.

"For you, anything," Seto whispered.

"_Anything?_" Serenity asked suspiciously. It was so unlike Seto to throw himself at her whim, but she had to admit that the gesture pleased her.

"Anything," Seto repeated.

"In that case, let's play a game."

"OK. I'll get our decks."

"Not that kind of game, silly! Here are the rules: You masturbate in front of me and I'll tell you when you can cum. If you ejaculate before I say you can, you have to start over," Serenity explained.

"What's the point in that?" Seto asked.

"It will help you last longer."

"All right. I'll do it," Seto agreed. It sounded like hard work, but at least she didn't expect him to be perfect immediately. He felt a tremendous weight lift from his shoulders as he handed the reigns of his sex life to her. Although she was as inexperienced as he was, she had picked up a lot of information about sex from some of the supplementary books she had read while studying medicine. With her in charge, Seto felt that he could fully relax for once in his life.

**Closing Note:** People can be a lot different in bed than they are in real life. People in power are especially known for seeking professional dominatrix services.


	4. Dirty Laundry

**Music Lover's Alert: "**Beekeeper's Daughter " by The All-American Rejects

**Chapter 4 Dirty Laundry**

Early the next morning, Sean gathered up his bed sheets and toted them down to the laundry room in the basement of the facility. When he got there, he found Penguin sitting on a folding chair beside one of the washing machines filing her nails with a pink emery board. Without saying hello, Sean swiftly approached an empty washing machine and stuffed the sheets inside.

"Who was it?" the bottle blonde asked casually without looking up from her nails.

"Excuse me?" Sean asked, playing dumb.

"You definitely did _something_ with a woman last night. I can smell her a mile away," Penguin replied. This time, she looked up at him with her penetrating hazel eyes.

"How do you know I'm not washing these for a friend?" Sean said, crossing his arms.

Penguin put down the emery board, tossed her long bleached blond hair, and stood up slowly. She approached Sean like a cat stalking its prey. Sean took a few steps backwards, but he knew that running would only make things worse. Penguin stopped with her nose half a centimeter from his face. "What did you do, take the sheets off the bed with your teeth?"

Sean gulped. "Is there anything I can say that will convince you to keep this quiet?"

"I don't think so, but there is something you can _do_," Katie replied with lust dripping from her voice.

"I… I thought that you weren't into men."

Penguin's arms snaked their way around his hard abdomen, and she drew her lips close to his left ear. "Don't be silly! I'm just _more_ into women because they do it better. However, it's obvious to me that you know how to please a woman, and I want you to please me next. Meet me in my room tonight, and I'll keep my mouth shut." Penguin extended her tongue and licked Sean's lower jar from left to right. A buzzer sounded behind her, indicating that her laundry was done.

Penguin drew herself away from Sean. Then, as if nothing had happened, she picked up her laundry basket and balanced it on her hip. She casually opened the washing machine, loaded everything into her basket, and walked out of the room swaying to some tune that Sean could not hear.

Sean blinked and stared at the empty door frame. He wondered why the girls at Rakitan Industries were suddenly so _horny_. Was there something in the water? Was it something in the air? Perhaps it was simply the fact that everyone in the community had been deprived of intimacy for so long that they simply could not take it anymore.

Sean gave up trying to solve the mystery for a while and did some one arm push-ups and other exercises while he waited for his laundry to finish. Then, he took out his laundry and brought it back to his room to dry. He stretched the sheets over the metal railing of his bed and opened his window so that they would be dry by evening.

Although Rakitan Industries had a few electric dryers, the residents were discouraged from using them in order to save the company money. Rakitan Industries was not exactly a legitimate business, so Tulip and his information team had to obtain money through hacking large corporate bank accounts. The more money Rakitan Industries stole, the more likely someone would launch an investigation into why the money had disappeared. Thus, the information team picked accounts belonging to people who had embezzled money in one form or other. Money that already had questionable origins was unlikely to be reported as stolen.

Sean finished setting up his laundry to dry and headed to the action room where he found his team already doing warm-up exercises. His eyes lingered for a moment on Tam as she stretched her long, lean limbs. She did not seem the least bit exhausted by last night's activities.

"OK team. Today we're going to start with some fencing. I have decided to randomize your partners today by assigning you all duel monsters cards." Sean took his deck out of a side pocket in his cargo pants and shuffled it.

Without even being asked, the twenty-odd members of his team lined up in an orderly fashion in front of him and accepted the cards that Sean distributed among them.

"Take a good look at your card, then hand it back to me." Sean chose a card for himself, and then collected the others. He shuffled them twice, and then drew two off the top of the pile. "Swords of Revealing Light and United Resistance," he announced. Tam and a black man with huge muscles named Pepper stepped forward. Sean sighed inwardly with relief. He did not know if he could function normally if he had to spar against the beautiful natural blonde.

Tam and Pepper grabbed some fencing equipment and went off to begin practice while Sean drew two more cards and read the names out loud. Pepper fixed an extra large plastron over his chest and said, "Don't you think it's kinda strange that he's using those old cards to match us up instead of pairing us by skill level like he normally does?"

Tam shrugged and flashed a little smile at him before she put a mask over her face. "I think it's a rather refreshing change, actually. I'm tired of having my ass whooped by him all the time." Tam raised her foil and cried, "en garde!"

With a feeble attempt at defending himself, Pepper succumbed to her superior agility. "That's… easy for you to say," he panted. Pepper was accustomed to dueling his white heteropaternal twin Salt who, although he had no other physical features in common with Pepper, had the same muscular frame of a champion bodybuilder.

"Think of this a chance to improve. I'll figure out what you are doing wrong and give you some pointers," Tam offered.

After about three hours of grueling practice, the action team members broke for lunch. They went to the dining hall where all the other members of Rakitan Industries joined them. Sean and his team heaped their plates full of food and went to mingle with the others.

Sean took a seat beside Joan and said, "Have you noticed that some people are getting a little… restless?"

Joan shrugged and took a sip of water. "Of course everyone is restless. We've been preparing to strike a blow against the empire for years, and we're just now pulling everything together."

"I mean…" Sean lowered his voice, "The anti-dating policy. People are starting to… you know."

"Could you please be more specific? Who? What have they done?" Joan asked.

"Well, it's not anything big yet. I just think you should relax the policy before it becomes a big deal and people go nuts," Sean understated.

Joan shook her head. Her long auburn curls swayed somberly around her face as she remembered her own past relationship. "No way. It's a slippery slope. People will be too distracted to handle the problem at hand."

"You weren't"

"I was. I just didn't let it show. I should have listened to you from the start. Now I'm just asking you to take your own advice."

"But that's not even what I was saying in the first place."

"What exactly _were_ you saying?"

"I was saying that you would be better off with me than with that lying asshole who left you."

Joan gazed into his chocolate brown eyes and saw how much he really meant what he said. She was tempted to kiss him and run her hands over his firm body, but she refused to give into her desires. She had put the rule in place for a reason, and she did not want to be the first one to break it. To the best of her knowledge, nobody in the facility had disobeyed her orders. "I'm flattered Sean, but I've learned from my mistakes. I'm not going to let anyone else make the same mistake I made."

Sean let out a short huff of frustration. "Not every relationship is doomed to end the way yours did."

Joan stared into the distance, remembering a time when she thought she would marry the man of her dreams. That had never happened. Instead, he had impregnated her and drifted out of her life when the baby was stillborn. However, Sean had a point. Many of the residents of Rakitan Industries had parents who were still together. Tam's parents, Sean's parents, and all three of Salt and Pepper's parents were still together. Still, Joan felt as if a knife was ripping through her soul every time she imagined seeing people happy together. "I'll think about it. You can go now," she said softly.

Sean nodded, gave her a squeeze on the shoulder, and left her to finish her meal in peace.

**Closing Note: **So, still no guesses yet. Well, here's a hint: the vows that Seto and Serenity "forgot" were prominently featured in the popular 1996 movie _Independence Day_. Not everybody says them, but it is important to make a conscious choice whether or not to say them.


	5. Paris

**Music Lover's Alert: **I didn't really have any good songs, so I searched for Paris songs. If you like listen to music while you read, you can check out these two and listen to whichever one tickles your fancy: "Paris, Tokyo" by Lupe Fiasco and "Paris" by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals.

**Chapter 5 Paris**

Serenity lay on her stomach on the bed of a five star hotel in Paris talking to her sister-in-law Mai on her cell-phone. She was all dressed up in a pink sundress with comfortable yet stylish pumps to match. As beautiful and luxurious as the hotel room was, she did not want to spend all day there. Otherwise, she would be laying naked between the smooth silk sheets.

Seto was in another part of the suite working on urgent Kaiba Corporation matters on his laptop. He had been there for over three hours with no sign of coming out. It was almost noon in Paris, so that meant it was evening in Japan.

"I'm so glad you called. I have big news. I just found out today!" Mai exclaimed.

"What is it?" Serenity asked curiously.

"You're going to be an aunt."

"_Really_?" Serenity squealed, "That's so cool! What does Joey think?"

Mai chucked on the other end of the line. "He's talking nonstop about how we are going to raise our little duelists. I know he's going to make a great father."

"I wonder what kind of father Seto will make," Serenity mused.

"Are you pregnant, too?" Mai asked.

Serenity giggled. "Maybe. It is way too soon to tell, but it's possible."

"So, I take it everything went well last night?"

Serenity paused for a moment. "Yeah… I guess so. We're working on it."

"Did you get him to take male enhancement pills?"

"No, I like him just the way he-hey! How did you know he has a small penis?"

"I didn't say-" Mai began.

"-Yes you did!" Serenity insisted.

"All right. That was years ago, hun. Don't worry about it."

"I'm not worried, just curious," Serenity replied honestly.

"Well, look at the time! I've gotta go. Talk to you later, hun!" Mai said quickly before hanging up her phone.

Serenity stared at the silent device in her hand. She could not understand why Mai did not want to tell her what had happened. She was a little surprised to discover that her sister-in-law had seen her husband's penis, but she found it more intriguing than disturbing. _Maybe it was during the Duelist Kingdom tournament where the showers were out in the woods and it was an accident or something. Yeah, that was probably what happened. Mai often complained about the state of the facilities were at Duelist Kingdom._

Serenity stretched idly, and then scrolled through the contact list on her phone. Rebecca was busy giving a guest lecture at some university, Joey was going out with Mai, Tea was performing a ballet, Yugi didn't really keep in touch, and Mokuba was… _hmm… what is Mokuba doing?_ Serenity selected Mokuba's number and then held her phone up to her ear while it connected.

Mokuba answered the phone almost immediately. His voice had deepened over the years, but it was still lively and full of energy. "Hey Serenity! How's Paris?"

"We haven't gotten to see much of it yet. Seto had to do some work on his computer."

"So you're like, just sitting there in the hotel waiting for him?"

"Pretty much"

"That's not fair. Why don't you just go out and see the sights yourself?" Mokuba suggested.

"That's a thought, but I don't want to go wandering the streets of Paris all alone. I don't know the language and I'm sure I would get lost. Plus, I've heard many horror stories about tourists getting mugged. I think it would be a lot safer to have Seto there."

Mokuba paused in thoughtful silence for a moment and then said, "I'll tell you what: I'll e-mail Seto and see if I can take that work off his hands. He really should not be working at all right now."

"Really Mokuba?" Thank you so much!

"Don't mention it," Mokuba replied.

Serenity hung up her phone and flipped through a travel magazine. If she was going to have any time with Seto in Paris, it was probably going to be limited and she had to decide how to make the most of it. A few of the things in the magazine were obvious must-see attractions. The Eiffel Tower and The Louvre both seemed like givens to her. Deciding between the other, more minor attractions was more difficult, but she took out a pen and prioritized them until she was satisfied with the list she had made.

Several minutes later, Seto walked into the room with a warm glow in his electric blue eyes and a pleasant smile on his face. No puppies died. "Ready to see Paris, mi amour?"

Serenity sighed with happiness as she rolled off the bed and into Seto's arms. Although she could not hold a conversation in French, she knew a few phrases. "Wi wi," she said before planting a soft kiss on his lips.

Seto placed a hand on her hip and guided her gently out the door. They made their way down to the streets of Paris and strolled arm-in-arm taking in all the sights, sounds, and smells around them. For several hours, they became simple tourists reveling in all the novelties they encountered.

Like Domino, Paris was an enclave of wealth and power. However, unlike Domino, nobody seemed to recognize the CEO of Kaiba Corporation. His fame was more local than global. Here and there, they could see areas that had been touched by the hand of Bakura or his minions selling cheap trinkets, but for the most part there were local, diverse specialty shops that sold real Parisian goods.

Serenity told Seto which things she wanted to see, and Seto used his smart phone to make finding them quicker. Although he wasn't too keen on seeing the Notre Dame Cathedral, he agreed to go there after one pouty look from Serenity's sweet olivine eyes pierced his soul. He had to admit that the architecture was impressive even if he didn't care much for what the building stood for.

They concluded the evening with a sunset river cruise on the Seine with dinner. They had lamb chops marinated in wine with artichokes, onion soup, and Crème Brûlée for dessert. When the Eiffel Tower came into view illuminated from within by golden lights, they were stunned speechless. Seto reached across the table and squeezed Serenity's hand as they gazed at it.

**Closing Note: **Review and guess already, people! Please? Pretty please?


	6. Blackmailed

**Author's Note: **We have an unsigned guess. I'm fine with unsigned reviews people, but if you are going to guess for the purposes of claiming a prize, I'd like to know who to reward and how. You could also PM me your guesses if you like.

**Warning:** Lemon. Sorry I didn't warn you in the previous chapter, but I just forgot. Anyway, you know what to do. Skip this chapter or wait for the next one if you are not comfortable with sex.

**Music Lover's Alert: **"The Bad Touch" by Bloodhound Gang or "3" by Britney Spears. I really don't like Britney Spears, but it really fits Penguin here. "The Bad Touch" is a more general song for the situation at Rakitan Industries while "3" is more specific to this chapter.

**Chapter 6 Blackmailed**

It was evening again at Rakitan Industries. As soon as the team leaders broke from their nightly gathering, Penguin sidled up to Sean with Pretty Pictures in tow. "So, have you picked out who you want to infiltrate Pattel Corporation yet?" she asked innocently.

Sean shrugged his shoulders. "Given that this is a stealth operation, The Taminator is an obvious choice. However, her skills also make her a valuable asset to keep here. If anything happens to me, we'll need her to train the others."

The other members of Rakitan Industries meandered out of the room while Penguin smiled and said casually, "That's good. I think that Tam could handle any mission easily, but maybe it's better if she sticks around here to train more operatives." The room was now empty except for the three of them, and Penguin began to stare at him with the same fiery, lustful gaze she had used that morning.

Sean uncomfortably shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Yeah, that's the idea," he said nervously.

Pretty Pictures gazed at him intently as well. Her dark chocolate eyes scrutinized his lean yet firm jaw, his compact yet powerful biceps, and the flaccid bump at his crotch.

"Change of plans," Penguin said, "We're going to Jessica's room."

Sean blinked. "Um… OK?"

Under most circumstances, she would have corrected Penguin for using her original name instead of her code name, but at the moment it did not seem important. "Come on! Let's go!" Pretty Pictures said with a little squeal of excitement.

With Penguin and Pretty Pictures flanking him on either side, the tree of them walked down the corridor together. Sean cast a longing glance at his own room as they passed it, wondering if Tam was there waiting for him. The trio entered a neatly made room with a few paintings of tropical scenery on the walls. Although it was small like all the other rooms in Rakitan Industries, Pretty Pictures made it seem like a little paradise with her flair for decorating. A few oil lamps sat on her dresser, and she lit them with a match as soon as they entered the room.

Pretty pictures put the match box into the top drawer of her dresser and took out an unopened box of condoms that was close to expiration, but still good. Sean stared at the girls slack-jawed. "Where did you get those?"

Penguin stepped up to Sean and fiddled with the belt on his cargo pants. "Puh-lease! We got them for Joan after her miscarriage in an attempt to convince her to get back into the dating scene, but she refused them. We figured that it would be a shame to waste them, so…"

"I didn't know you wanted me to actually-" Penguin cut him off mid-sentence by smothering his lips with her own. Her kiss was sharp, firm, and overwhelming. He was afraid that she might be drawing blood from his lower lip, but certain that she would do it intentionally if he complained.

Pretty Pictures pulled a little pink dildo out of the drawer and set it beside the condoms. Then, she crept up behind Penguin and snaked her arms around her girlfriend's waist. She nuzzled and licked the side of Penguin's neck, stimulating the nerves there and making Penguin arch her back.

Penguin got Sean's belt loose and untucked his T-shirt. Then, she pulled it over his head to reveal a set of powerful abdominal muscles. Penguin ran her fingers over the firm ridges. It had been so long since she had last touched a man's body that the experience felt entirely new and thrilling to her.

Sean felt his erection growing despite himself. He ran his hands around her waist and pressed the bulge in his pants into the space between her legs. Penguin turned around to face Pretty Pictures, enjoying the friction of four hands on her as she rotated. She ground her soft, round buttocks against Sean's cock as she kissed her girlfriend, sharing a little of Sean's meaty taste with her.

Penguin and Pretty Pictures pulled their shirts over their heads and unhooked each other's bras. Their perky, youthful breasts rubbed against each other as Penguin ground her rear end against Sean's bulging pants. Sean's hands ventured up to Penguin's breasts, and he found them satisfyingly round and full. They were much larger and softer than Tam's breasts, which was odd given Penguin's relatively sharp and hard personality. Penguin was no athlete; she was a diva.

Like all the Noelites, Penguin and Pretty Pictures joined the action team for vigorous training exercises once a week, so they had a little muscle on their bodies, but not enough to show. Instead, they had delightful feminine curves that were typical of most women at Rakitan Industries. Since Penguin watched her weight more carefully than Pretty Pictures, she had a nearly flat stomach while Pretty Pictures looked more like a belly dancer.

Penguin pulled down her girlfriend's skirt, revealing a chocolaty brown orchid with most of the hair shaved away. What little had been left behind was a luxurious black color like the hair on head. Penguin pushed Pretty Pictures gently onto the small bed in the corner of the room and rubbed her sweet spot lovingly. Pretty Pictures suppressed her moans of pleasure as Penguin stimulated the sensitive area.

With her free hand, Penguin undid her jeans and pulled them down to her ankles along with her panties. She stuck her rump in the air as she hovered over Pretty Pictures, inviting Sean to enter her. Then she grabbed the dildo off the dresser and inserted it into Pretty Pictures. Pretty Pictures gasped in delight as she felt the phallus inside her and squirmed underneath Penguin. She threw her arms around Penguin's back to get a little more leverage as she rocked herself on the bed.

Sean slipped off his cargo pants, releasing his huge, throbbing cock. He pinched himself to make sure that this was really happening and that it wasn't just some wet dram, then opened the box of condoms on the dresser. It had been so long since he last used one that he read the instructions just to be safe.

Penguin turned her head to look back at him. "Hurry up! It's not nice to keep a lady waiting," she said impatiently.

"Relax. I'm getting there," Sean replied. The pressure Penguin put on him caused his erection to deflate instantly like a punctured balloon. Sean sighed and opened a condom package carefully so that it would be ready when he rose to the occasion again. He set the condom on Penguin's back, then grabbed her ass with one hand and rubbed his flaccid penis with the other hand. He closed his eyes and did his best to flush Penguin's sharp voice out of his head.

He thought back to a simpler time, a time long before he became Penguin's sex slave through blackmail. He was in the army the first time he had received letters from Joan and Tam. Joan's handwriting was warm and feminine, much like the buttock he now held while Tam's handwriting was compact, efficient, and energetic. He convinced himself that the ass before him must belong to Joan, and his cock swelled to its full size again. He grabbed the condom, slipped it over his member, and plunged it into Penguin's dripping wet pussy. He pumped her slowly at first, then harder.

Penguin quickly succumbed to Sean's powerful rhythm. She gripped the dildo inside her girlfriend and let Sean do all the work. As he pounded her, he transferred his kinetic energy right through Penguin and into the dildo she held for her girlfriend. Both women suppressed screams of ecstasy as their strong male companion rode them like they had never been ridden before.

Pretty Pictures came quickly, and then changed positions so that she could lick Penguin's clit while Sean pumped her. When Penguin came, she collapsed into her girlfriend's arms, giving Sean no choice but to withdraw from her. Unfortunately he had built up quite a load, and he knew that it would become painful if he did not release it soon. "Hey! Aren't you forgetting something! I'm about to get blue balls here," he said, gesturing to the latex-covered appendage protruding from his lower abdomen.

"Finish yourself off," Penguin mumbled with her head buried between her girlfriend's breasts.

"Come on now! This isn't fair."

"Shut up and be grateful, bitch!" Penguin snapped, enunciating every word clearly.

Grudgingly, Sean sat down in a corner of the room and wrapped his hand around his cock. He jerked it until he came into the condom, and then took it off, preserving as much of the fluid as possible inside it. He tied a knot in the condom and then stuffed it a pocket in his cargo pants so that he could dispose of it later. He dressed quickly and left without saying another word to the girls. They were clearly into each other, and he was just an extra sex toy to them. However, it wasn't such a bad trade. Penguin kept her mouth shut about his smelly sheets and he got to release some sexual tension.

Sean snuck through the corridor and made his way back to his own room. When he got there, he found that someone had made his bed for him. There was a note on his pillow. Sean sat down and unfolded the paper to find the compact, efficient, energetic handwriting that he had grown to love over the years.

"Another late night, huh? Next time, come meet me in my room 3"

Sean smiled and set the note aside. He considered going to her, but he knew that he should get some rest because it would look bad on both of them if they had dark circles under their eyes in the morning. Sean undressed and got into bed, savoring the feeling of clean sheets on his skin. As he drifted off to sleep, he thought about Tam and imagined how she must have looked as she bent over his bed and tucked the sheets into place.

**Closing Note:** I would like to thank my boyfriend and a very awesome girl who is nothing like Jessica or Penguin for inspiring me with the physical dynamics of this lemon. I don't remember her name, but even if I did, I would not disclose it. If you somehow stumbled upon this and are reading it dear, thanks!


	7. Married Life

**Warning: **More sex. It is going to be that way for a while. If you don't want to read lemons/kinky stuff, don't read this. If your hormones are well-balanced and you are horny like the rest of us, enjoy! Anyway, this just shows more of Seto and Serenity's marital interactions.

**Author's Note: **If anyone wants to come up for a song that goes with this one, I would greatly appreciate it.

**Chapter 7 Married Life**

-approximately one month later-

Seto lay on his back on the giant bed in the Kaiba mansion that he shared with Serenity. Serenity sat on top of him in cowgirl position relishing the feeling of his hard little cock pressing into her g-spot. She rocked back and forth on top of him moaning as waves of pleasure coursed through her body.

"Please, Serenity! Please let me cum," Seto begged.

"Not yet, darling," Serenity replied with a playful glint in her olivine eyes. She rode her husband harder and faster until finally her juices gushed forth, spewing all over his manhood and trickling down his legs. "OK," Serenity panted, "You can cum."

Seconds later, Seto's hot fluid spewed into her. Serenity leaned forward and kissed every inch of Seto's face. "Did I do good, honey?" he asked.

"Yes. You're the best husband a woman could ever ask for," Serenity complimented him. She loved how sweet and vulnerable he became when he was not wearing his business attire. It was as if there was a completely different side of him that he never showed to anyone but her. Serenity sighed with contentment as she dismounted him and cuddled up to his chest. "You're going to make such a great father."

"I'm _what _now?" Seto asked in shock.

"Well, I've been too busy at the hospital to conduct an official test on myself, but I'm pretty sure I'm pregnant. My period is two weeks late."

Seto blinked and looked down at her stomach. "You don't _look_ pregnant."

Serenity giggled and said, "That's because the zygote is only be about this big right now." She held her fingers about two millimeters apart for Seto to see.

Seto was quiet for a moment, and then asked, "How big is Joey's kid right now?"

Serenity increased the distance between her fingers to about a centimeter.

"In that case, we need to make sure that our kid is five times the duelist that Joey's kid is. I'll make you some digital sound recordings instructing him how to play duel monsters while he is still growing inside you."

Serenity giggled. "What if it's a girl?"

"Then we'll make her twenty times the duelist that Mai is."

Serenity laughed again, then asked, "Speaking of Mai, she said something odd about you a while ago."

Seto's body went stiff as a board. "What did she tell you?"

"Not much. She just said that it happened a long time ago. I was wondering what it was."

Seto's skin went cold and clammy.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Serenity reassured him.

Seto breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, I'd rather not talk about it."

They lay there in an awkward silence for a few moments and tried to sleep without any success.

"Serenity?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have things that you don't want to tell me?"

"Not that I can think of."

"If you ever have something you don't want to tell me, just don't. I don't need to hear it. I trust you, and since you put your trust in me… I just don't need to know." He stroked her long smooth hair in the dark.

"Umm… OK." Serenity did not know what she could possibly do that she might be embarrassed to tell her husband, but his words were still comforting to her. The sound of his heartbeat and his steady breathing lulled her into a deep, restful sleep.

**Closing Note: **Sorry that was a little short, but that's just as long as the chapter wanted to be. There's not much going on right now, but there will be. I just wanted to show the normal way things happen with them.

The guessing game is still open, so… review or PM if you would rather!


	8. Action Team - Training

**Author's Note: **This is another OC chapter for character development. Enjoy!

**Music Lover's Alert: **If you like to listen to music while you read, "Push It" and "None of Your Business" Salt-N-Pepa were going through my head when I wrote this. Even though Salt-N-Pepa is a pretty old band, I named my characters Salt and Pepper before I registered the connection.

You may also enjoy "Dirty Little Secret" by The All-American Rejects

**Warnings: **Another Lemon. Yes, I'm on a roll here.

**Chapter 8 Action Team - Training**

A huge black man with the figure of a bodybuilder named Pepper lunged at a red chicken and caught it by the tail feathers. He dragged it toward himself and re-adjusted his grip on it so that it could not escape. Then, he carried it over to a three-meter-high chicken wire corral and chucked it over the side. At the same time, Tam tossed a fat white chicken into the pen.

All the members of the action team then counted the chickens. There was still one left to catch. They fanned out across the dusty weed field behind Rakitan Industries to search for it, and a few members of the action team hollered when they spotted it. It was an Amerucana with beautiful golden feathers. They lunged for it, but the sleek feathered creature evaded their grasp. Salt, a white man with the same build as Pepper, cornered it and almost grasped it, but the little bird managed to sneak past him.

Then, out of nowhere, their tall red-headed leader appeared. In one effortless motion, Sean scooped the chicken into his arms. Instead of putting it away for the night, he held it firmly and stood in front of his team. "Don't slack off just yet. Our day is not over. I have just received the schematics for the Pattel Corporation factory. We are going to use the obstacle course equipment to lay out a life-sized replica that we can use for training. I want you all to do this tonight so that you can grow accustomed to the factory layout and start memorizing it. Any questions?"

There were a few groans from the exhausted athletes, but no questions or comments. Sean handed every one of the dozen people in front of him a layout map of the factory and then clapped his hands.

About half of the action team went out to the vast weed field behind Rakitan Industries with colorful string, nails, and measuring tape. They quickly marked off the outer boundaries of the factory, and then laid down more string to indicate where doorways, assembly lines, and large pieces of machinery should sit. The other action team members dragged large wooden structures, metal poles, and other miscellaneous objects out to the field. They placed tall objects around the perimeter of the replica factory and objects that approximated the sizes of the machines inside.

Sean supervised all of the proceedings, carrying his chicken with him. He told the members of the action team when he was satisfied with their work and when they needed to make something more precise. Just before sunset, they completed their model.

The members of the action team lay back on piles of wood, waiting to be dismissed. However, Sean had other plans. He released the Amerucana he was holding and said, "Whoever catches this beauty gets to sleep in an hour tomorrow."

Every member of the action team immediately sprang back to life. They moved like thunder, but the chicken moved like lightning. It dodged the many attempts of the action team members to grab it, using the complexity of the "factory" to its advantage.

Salt and Pepper noted some patterns in the little bird's behavior and conspired to catch it together. By communicating wordlessly, the twins managed to corner it between two "assembly lines." With one last _sqawk_, and flutter of wings, the chicken was theirs. They came out carrying it proudly, each of them holding one leg.

"All right," Sean said with a sigh, "You both get to sleep in."

Salt and Pepper let out whoop of triumph as they threw the chicken into the pen with the others and charged back to the main building. The other members of the action team dragged their sore butts slowly across the weed field.

"I bet those blokes are going to run straight to Pretty Pictures and bone her before turning in for the night," a somewhat short kid with lots of pimples said.

"What gives you that idea? Jessica has been a lesbian for as long as I can remember," Tam said.

"I saw Tulip and Sean going to and from her room a few nights ago," a girl with a huge nose and a nonexistent chin said.

"That proves nothing. They are all team leaders, so they were probably just coordinating a few things," Tam defended.

"They certainly 'coordinated' their voices when they were fucking," the first kid snickered.

"That's enough! Why are you even concerned with her private behavior anyway?"

All of the action team members fell silent. Sean, who had been listening to the conversation from a distance, interjected, "If any of you have evidence that someone has violated Joan's anti-relationship policy, report it. While you are at it, report your own violations."

The action team members mumbled and went inside, but Tam remained outside with Sean. They stared at each other for a moment. Then, Tam flung herself into Sean's arms and buried her face in his chest. She sobbed quietly.

Sean stroked Tam's hair gently. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's a mess in there."

"I agree."

Tam sighed and laid her head on Sean's shoulder. "I think I should tell Jessica."

Sean stiffened a bit. "Why? It's not your problem."

"It could have been."

"All right. Just don't say anything about us, OK?"

"OK."

Sean gave Tam a soft, sweet kiss on the lips. Then, they parted ways.

Tam decided to shower and change before approaching Pretty Pictures. It had been a long day and she needed to collect her thoughts. Plus, she stunk like hell after running around all day in her dusty turtleneck and leggings. She stripped off the offensive garments and stepped into the old military gang shower. There were a few more members of the action team there, but they ignored each other. The cool water soothed her and when she finished, the clean cotton of a fresh tower comforted her.

Tam wrapped the towel around her and walked back to her room with the dirty clothes in a bundle under her arm. She was just about to enter her room when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to find Trevor, Jessica's younger brother, standing there. Like his sister, Trevor had luxurious soft black hair and olive skin. However, his bright emerald eyes contrasted sharply with her rich chocolate ones.

"Can I talk to you?" Trevor asked in a hesitant, insecure tone.

"Yeah. Just let me put this down. Come in and have a seat." Tam opened the door, ushered Trevor inside, and tossed her clothes in her hamper.

Trevor sat down on the edge of Tam's bed and she took a seat beside him. Her long, lean muscular legs protruded from the faded grey towel, which barely covered her body. Trevor tried not to look, but his eyes kept sliding over her thighs. "Um, what do you think about the rule against relationships?" he asked hesitantly.

"It's far too strict. Joan was in a bad place when she made it. It seemed like a good idea to her at the time, but now…" Tam's voice trailed off, and she looked at Trevor with sadness in her amber eyes.

"Have you ever broken the rule?" Trevor asked.

"Have you?"

Before they even realized what was happening, their mouths were hungrily devouring each other. Trevor's smooth skin and delightful scent reminded her of fresh summer peaches. She sunk her teeth into his flesh a little, and he threw back his head in a low moan of pleasure.

Tam released him and pressed her mouth close to his ear. "Keep it down. You don't want people talking about us the way they are talking about your sister."

Trevor froze. "My sister? What are they saying?"

"You don't already know?"

"No. Tell me," Trevor demanded.

Tam wrapped her bare arms around him and pulled him close. Then, she told him in the softest words possible about the rumors.

"I don't understand. Jessica turns away every guy that comes to her door unless he's with Penguin, and even then… I don't know what happens behind that door, so how could anyone else know?"

"Beats me. I think they're making all that shit up to cover up their own behaviors."

"That makes sense. I don't think there is a single person left in this building besides Joan who hasn't broken the rule in some form or other."

"This wasn't your first time, I take it," Tam stated.

"No," Trevor admitted, "but they picked me rather than the other way around. This time…"

Tam understood what he was trying to say and kissed him once more. Her hands wandered to the back of his head and she laced her fingers through his soft black hair. Trevor savored every moment that her lips touched his. In that precious space of time, he felt that he could not possibly be happier. However, Tam's emotions were mixed. She had initially kissed him to keep him from suspecting her involvement with Sean, but then she found herself enjoying him.

Tam drew back from Trevor. "We shouldn't do this."

"Why not? Nobody had to know," Trevor said softly, still intoxicated by the feelings she had aroused in him.

"You really won't say a word of this to anyone?"

"I promise," Trevor said sincerely. Then, he kissed her once more.

This time, Tam gave in completely to the beauty of the moment. Even though he had mentioned being with others, there was a certain pure innocence radiating from his soul that Sean lacked. Sean's war experiences had made him wiser and stronger, but his soul was different. It wasn't any better or worse, just different. Being with Sean was like being wrapped up in a wool blanket and sitting in front of a fire on a harsh winter day. By contrast, being with Trevor was like drinking from a crystal clear stream on a hot summer day. At the moment, her thirst for Trevor was insatiable.

Tam let Trevor loosen her towel and slide it off while she unbuttoned his shirt and jeans. They rubbed their bodies against each other, creating hot friction that only served to drive them wilder. Trevor stroked Tam's warm, wet womanhood with his finger, and dove two of them inside her. Tam sucked on Trevor's collar bone to keep herself from crying out in pleasure while she grabbed his cock and stroked it hard.

They came within minutes of each other, then lay back on the bed panting. Tam wrapped her arms around Trevor's waist and nuzzled his smooth chest.

"Will I see you again?" Tam found herself asking.

"Of course! Tam, I think I lo-"

Tam put a finger to his lips. "Don't say it. We're not technically breaking the rules as long as we're just fooling around."

Trevor's hear thumped heavily. He wanted her to know how he really felt about her, but maybe she didn't feel the same way. Maybe she had someone else just like he did. "Yeah. You're right," he sighed.

Several moment of silence passed between them. Then Tam said cautiously, "About Jessica…"

"I'll deal with her. She should know, and I think I can break it to her gently enough." Trevor stretched, then got up and started to don his clothes.

Tam rolled onto her side and watched him. "Thanks. Thank you for everything, actually."

"No, thank _you_." Trevor finished putting on his clothes, and then gave Tam a sweet, soft kiss. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Trevor left Tam to fall asleep on her own. Her body was fully exhausted from all the day's activities, so she fell asleep almost immediately. However, her mind was fitfully active. Dreams of Sean and Trevor finding out about each other and not getting along plagued her all night long.


	9. Busy

**Music Lover's Alert: **I can't think of much for this chapter, so how about "Dead Hearts" by Stars?

**Author's Note: **I have a new temporary cover up. However, I'm still looking for a more permanent one. Remember: oneshots for anyone who does art for me!

**Chapter 9 Busy**

-A Few Months Later-

Serenity bounded into the living room of the Kaiba mansion with a huge smile on her face. She was so excited that she failed to notice that the hair on the back of the head peeking over the couch was black and shaggy rather than brown and smooth. "Seto! It's a girl!" she proclaimed to the man sitting on the couch.

Mokuba turned to face her with an apologetic expression on his face. "Seto is going to be late tonight. I tried to handle his work for him, but unfortunately it's one of those things that only he can do. Congratulations anyway, though."

Serenity's face fell when she realized that she was speaking to the other Kaiba brother. "What's going on at Kaiba Corporation?"

"We're under a lot of pressure to make a hot-selling item for the holidays and make it as cheap as possible, but Seto refuses to sacrifice the quality of our products."

Serenity walked over to Mokuba and sat beside him on the couch. Her stomach had a slight bulge to it, but not so much that it was hard for her to walk. However, her feet noticed the extra weight she had been carrying around all day. Still, she would walk another ten miles if it meant she could see Seto. Unfortunately, Seto's presence would not be available tonight not matter what she did. The best she could do was talk to Mokuba about Seto and his business. "So, why all the pressure for cheap stuff?"

"Wages around the globe have been dropping, and most consumers can't afford quality goods anymore."

"But Joey and Mai both just got raises."

"That's just because of inflation. I meant that _real_ wages are dropping. Joey and Mai are just lucky to work in Domino because Domino is keeping up with inflation. Have _you_ gotten a raise from Kobe hospital lately?"

Serenity shook her head. "I haven't been working there long enough."

"There's more to it than that," Mokuba said dismally, "The members of the oligarchy aren't very fond of Kobe aside from that one seafood place we like, which is far enough from the city's core that nobody sees the slums when they visit it. Domino, on the other hand, is like a haven for rich people."

"So, Seto wants to make a duel disk that people in Kobe can afford?" Serenity asked hopefully.

"Not quite. Pattel Corporation is making a bunch of really cheap toys from its factories in China. They pay the children that work there even lower wages than they pay people in Kobe, so…"

"Wait, they're using _children_?" Serenity clarified.

"Yes. That's how they make such huge profits. Anyway, they're our competition, so Seto is trying to figure out how to make our stuff more affordable without resorting to the same tactics as Pattel," Mokuba concluded.

"How is that even allowed? Why don't Bakura or Pegasus stop it?"

"Pegasus is doing it, too. As for Bakura, he doesn't care. He's not the same guy we knew in school. He always had a darker side to him, and the darker side won. Seto's fighting a losing battle against them. It's not like he can just duel them into submission like he could ten years ago. It's a different game now."

Serenity sat in silence for a moment, staring at the finery around her. The décor was less ostentatious than most mansions sported, but still beautiful and tasteful. An enormous yet energy efficient flat-screen TV sat in front of them broadcasting a science show on low volume. Serenity watched it for a few moments, then said softly, "I know that Seto is doing something good, but I still wish he was here. I mean, I just want to share this time with him. It's exciting knowing we're going to have a daughter."

"Well, I think it's exciting knowing that I'm going to have a niece," Mokuba said with a shy smile. He gazed at her with a soft glow in his violet eyes.

Serenity smiled back at him. She knew she couldn't ask for a sweeter brother-in-law. "Thanks, Mokuba! Hey, I have a craving for chocolate cake with mustard and anchovies. Would you like some?"

Mokuba made a face, and Serenity laughed. "I could go for some cake. I don't know about the other stuff, though."

Serenity stood up and walked over to the mansion's intercom. Then, she placed their order to the chef and sat back down with Mokuba. "Wanna watch a movie?" she asked.

"Sure!"

Serenity picked up the remote and flipped through a list of the latest movies produced by Global Communications. Although Global Communications subcontracted to a few smaller production companies, they had effectively seized control of all media. Bakura, the CEO of Global Enterprises, had a team of political analysts who censored everything that went on the air.

Serenity scrolled past the horror section and clicked on one of the action movies. She was tempted to pick a chick flick, but figured that she should choose something that Mokuba would like, too. The choices all seemed the same, so Serenity selected one at random. "Have you seen this one?"

"Nope! Sounds good," Mokuba replied.

Serenity started the movie. It was about a cop who could see into the future and single-handedly foiled a terrorist plot against the Oligarchy. Several CEOs, including Gilbert Jones of Sellar Defense, made cameo appearances in the movie. The terrorists were portrayed as slow-witted and ugly, so the audience would not sympathize with them. The cop also had an intensely patriotic wife with a perfect body and alluring bedroom eyes. At some point in the movie, a terrorist kidnapped her and was about to torture her when the cop burst into the room and freed her.

When the Kaiba mansion's personal chef arrived with cake for both of them and extra condiments for Serenity, the cop was passionately making love to his wife. The chef cleared his throat in rude disapproval as he set their food down on the table. Then, the turned on his heel sharply and left.

"What was that about?" Serenity wondered.

"I don't know. That guy can be a prude sometimes. The food is good, though." Mokuba responded.

Serenity grunted thoughtfully as she drizzled mustard over her cake and topped it with anchovies. Then, she took a bite of the concoction and moaned in satisfaction. It _really_ hit the spot! Even though she disliked the cook's judgmental mannerisms, she had to admit that he did his job very well.

After the movie was over, Serenity gave Mokuba a hug and said, "Thanks for keeping me company."

"Don't mention it," Mokuba replied with a smile.

Mokuba went upstairs and got ready for bed while Serenity took out her cell-phone and sent Seto a text message: _I just want you to know how much I love you. Mokuba told me why you are working so late and I understand. I still miss you, though! Please come home as soon as you can. I have exciting news!_

Serenity yawned and hauled her exhausted body up the stairs. She brushed her teeth and undressed. Then, she climbed into bed. It felt so empty without Seto that she tossed and turned sleeplessly for several hours. At last, she heard someone open the door and rolled into her normal sleeping position. She felt Seto's long, lean body press against hers and quickly drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	10. Technology Team - Formation

**Music Lover's Alert: **I have a bunch for this one because it is a very pivotal chapter. Here's the list:

"Somebody Told Me" by The Killers

"Little Dreams" by Ellie Goulding

"Can't Stop The Rain" by Cascada

"Can You Stop The Rain" by Peabo Bryson

"Here Is Gone" by Goo Goo Dolls (For Trevor's perspective)

Oh, and I've been trying to fit in "Monster" by Paramore somewhere, but it seems like every time I try, there are more appropriate songs for the chapter and whenever I write a chapter in which I can't think of a song, "Monster" doesn't fit. Oh well. Enjoy!

**Chapter 9 Technology Team**

Joan, Penguin, Pretty Pictures, Sean, and Tulip sat around the great oak table discussing how to execute their plan to bring shame on Pattel Corporation. A strange tension hung in the air, but nobody commented on it. Instead, they blatantly ignored it and pushed their discussion forward with forced words.

"We have plenty of possible options, but we need someone to test them. Unfortunately, most of my guys aren't up to the task of conducting practical tests," Tulip said.

"In other words, we need to assemble another team," Joan said, eyeing one of the empty circles at the table.

"There's a kid on my team named Jamie who likes to build obstacle course equipment. He is very dedicated to what he does, but he has trouble keeping up with the rest of the group during training sessions," Sean offered.

Joan nodded. "Sounds good. Do any of you have people you can spare?" she asked, looking around the table.

"Well, there are a couple of boys on my team who just aren't happy unless they are fidgeting with something at all times. They would probably have a lot more fun on the new team than they are having with us," Pretty Pictures said.

Penguin let out a small cough as if to warn her girlfriend not to say too much. Pretty Pictures tossed her long, black curls and shot Penguin and indignant stare.

Oblivious to the innuendo, Joan said, "Great idea. Let's put them all together on a project tomorrow and see how it goes. Um… It's been a long day. Let's break for the evening."

The team leaders all split, with everyone going their separate ways. Joan rubbed the back of her neck as she walked to her room. Something was definitely wrong with her people, but she could not place her finger on what it was. Rather, she simply would not let herself face the problem head-on. Every time she tried, haunting images of her ex-boyfriend came flooding back to her. She was so _sure_ with him that she felt she could never be sure of anything else in her life as long as she lived.

Sometimes it felt like only yesterday, but sometimes it felt like a distant eternity ago when she held his hand, strolling through campus at night. Now, she wasn't sure if he was even real. If Timothy even existed in the first place, was he an actual human or some sort of angel?

She sometimes saw him in dreams, but he would always be just out of reach. The more she reached for him, the more he slipped away. When he appeared in her dreams these days, she would just freeze and wait for him. Sometimes he would touch her shoulder or gaze into her gold-speckled blue eyes with his electric ones, but he would never come any closer than that. On such occasions, she would lay in bed for as long as possible, just waiting to see if anything else would happen. Her bed had become a blessing and a curse at the same time. Whenever she thought she needed him the most he would never appear, and just when she least expected him, he would come back to haunt her.

Joan opened the door to her room to find a boy with soft black hair and weary emerald green eyes sitting on the edge of her bed. A single 14-watt fluorescent lamp lit the simple room. "Trevor!?" Joan said in disbelief, "What's wrong?"

"_Everything_. Do you have time to listen?" Trevor asked.

Joan rubbed the back of her neck harder as she tried to think of what to say.

"I can help you with that," Trevor offered.

"All right, fine," Joan said at last. She went inside her room and closed the door behind her. Then, she sat down on the bed beside Trevor and let him grip her shoulders firmly.

As Trevor rubbed her neck and shoulders, he started to spill his woes. "My sister Jessica is acting really cranky these days. It's like she never wants to be around me outside of creativity team meetings. Well, the other day I overheard her arguing with Penguin about some guy."

"A _guy_?"

"It gets worse. There's this rumor going around that my sister is straight or bi or something, so now all these guys are treating her like some sort of slut."

"What does Jessica's sexuality even matter? Everyone knows I won't tolerate that kind of behavior!"

"They're doing it anyway. You can't stop them."

Joan's body tensed under Trevor's grip. "Oh yes I can! Tell me who it is and I'll put a stop to it."

"Joan, listen to me! The problem is bigger than that. All the guys around here are so horny, they get one whiff that a girl is putting out and they go nuts! It's not just Jessica that's getting all the attention, either."

"Who else is it?" Joan inquired.

"I'm not going to say. Look, there are secret relationships going on all over the place. People can't admit to anyone else that they're seeing someone, so they have no excuse _not_ to get it on with the hotties who come knocking at their doors. It's a nightmare of lies and games. People cover their tracks pretty well, but sometimes…"

"Sometimes what?"

"Sometimes I see things I shouldn't see, and people fall over backwards to get me to keep quiet or drag me into it so that I become as guilty as they are. I mean, I like a good blowjob as much as the next guy, but…"

"But you're still complaining," Joan noted absently. The massage was finally starting to make her relax.

"Yeah! I mean, there are a couple of girls I like, but the others… It's weird because I can't turn them away."

"Who do you like?"

Trevor took a deep breath. It was now or never. He spoke very slowly, choosing his words carefully, "I'm not going to name names, but there's on girl from Action, another from Information, and then there's you."

"_Me_!?"

"Yeah, and if it was just the three of you then it would be fine, but I'm just not at liberty to say 'no' to the other five."

Joan, lulled by the release of tension in her muscles, said, "Hmm… Yeah, that is weird. What do you want me to do about it?"

Trevor stopped massaging her and turned to face her. He looked directly into her gold-specked blue eyes and said, "Lift the ban on dating."

She had to admit that his proposition was tempting. Although Trevor's facial features were very plain and his nose was a little big, there was a certain sincerity about him that made him undeniably attractive. Joan felt herself melting under his emerald green eyes and firm yet gentle hands. Her mouth moved towards his as if by instinct. A voice in her head told her to stop, but another voice urged her to continue. _Just one taste. It can't hurt anything. Nobody will know._ The gap between them closed, and for several moments the two of them shared absolute bliss.

It was the first time in years Joan could honestly say she forgot about Timothy, but once she realized it, memories of him came flooding back. It wasn't as if he was telling her to stop. It was more as if he was encouraging her to move on. However, the phantom possibility that he might come back some day made her stop. If she let herself get involved with Trevor and Timothy suddenly walked back into her life, there was no way she could refuse him. That would mean hurting Trevor. Knowing what heartbreak was like, she couldn't stand the possibility of inflicting that on someone else.

Joan drew away from Trevor with panic flashing through the gold flecks in her eyes. "Wait! That was a mistake! We can't do this!"

Trevor sighed, and then repeated a line that he had heard countless times over the past month, "Don't worry. This will be just between us."

Joan's startled expression did not fade. "I don't want to lie to people. I mean, this really can't continue. I… I need to be the strong one here."

Trevor looked down at his shoelaces and contemplated them. "I see," he said heavily, "but sometimes the mark of a great leader is her ability to admit she was wrong."

This touched a nerve in Joan, and she exploded with a fiery rant. "You haven't been through what I've been through! If you want to get burned, then by all means go out and get burned. Just don't drag any of the people here down with you. Do it on your own time and _then_ come back!"

Trevor shook his head. "I'm not leaving, nor is anyone else for that matter. What you need to do is stop trying to control what has already gone out of control. Just…" Trevor stopped talking when he realized that Joan had gone rigid again. He gave her shoulder a squeeze and said, "just think about it," then got up and left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Joan threw herself face-down on her bead and reached under her pillow where she found her rosary waiting for her. She tangled her fingers in the prayer beads as best she could so that they would stay in contact with her skin all night long. Too weary to pray properly, she simply let her mind wander. _Lord, guide me through this. Forgive me for whatever it is I have done to deserve this. Please give me a sign. Please… please… pl… ease… ease…zzz._

**Closing Note:** Please review! It means a lot to me :)

Oh, and I have a new oneshot! It is based on a dream I had and it centers around Serenity. It is called "Lesson in Lube."


	11. Guessing Games

**Warning: **Lemon. Yes, another one!

**Music Lover's Alert: **Um… Suggestions, anyone?

**Chapter 10 Guessing Games**

The next morning, Serenity and Seto both woke groggily to the sound of their alarm. Seto rolled out of bed mechanically and headed towards the bathroom that was attached to their bedroom. Serenity stretched for a few moments before following him. The pressure on her bladder increased dramatically when she stood, and she made a mad dash for the toilet. Thankfully, Seto was already in the shower when she got there. After urinating, Serenity joined her husband in the shower. Even with her bulging abdomen, their luxury shower was large enough for both of them, and perhaps even more people.

"Did you get my text last night?" Serenity asked sweetly. She grabbed a bar of soap and twirled it around her husband's little head.

Seto felt his member stiffening and his knees went weak. He leaned against the white marble wall of the shower and said, "Yes. What's the exciting news?"

"I want you to guess, and you can't cum until you guess," Serenity replied playfully.

Seto's dick now stood at full attention, and the sensation of Serenity's hands on it felt too good to give up so quickly, so he started by guessing something he thought extremely unlikely, but still a favorable occurrence, "Bakura went bankrupt."

"No," Serenity said with a giggle.

The pressure inside his scrotum was starting to build, so Seto guessed something a little more likely, "Mokuba got a girlfriend."

"Sorry, he's still looking," Serenity replied.

Seto had a strong feeling that Serenity wanted to guess something about her, so he said, "You got a promotion."

"Still wrong," Serenity replied. She knelt down and pressed Seto's cock between her slightly englarged breasts and rubbed them around his soapy little head.

Seto gasped as the pleasure intensified and became almost unbearable. He looked down at her angelic face and her succulent pink nipples, then said, "Oh my God! You're a D cup now!"

"Not quite, but my C cup is getting a little tight. You're a little warmer."

Seto racked his brain for the correct response. Serenity's _body… Serenity's baby… Of course! She mentioned something about an ultrasound yesterday!_ "It's a… boy?" Seto asked hopefully.

"You've almost got it!" Serenity encouraged him.

"It's a girl!" Seto cried in desperation.

"Yes!" Serenity affirmed.

Seto shot his load straight onto Serenity's chin where it was quickly washed away by the water of the shower. Serenity stood up and kissed him several times as the water dribbled over their bodies.

After letting him rest for a few moments, Serenity set about washing herself. She spoke gaily to him, chattering about how they would decorate the nursery. She was really excited about making it pink and pretty. Seto thought that it would look better in blue regardless of the baby's gender, but realizing that he wouldn't have much time to spend in the nursery anyway, he held his tongue and supported Serenity's decoration ideas. Besides, he had other things to worry about and felt relieved that someone else could make the decisions for a change.

"So… would you like to come look at cribs and stuff with me tomorrow?"

"I have to work," Seto answered.

Serenity blinked in surprise. "But… Tomorrow is Saturday. You don't work on Saturdays."

"I do now. Our company is facing some very stiff competition. It has been that way ever since the new government deregulated the market. We've been lucky so far, but it keeps getting tougher to stay in business without resorting to… you know."

Serenity nodded solemnly. Both of their biological fathers had died as a result of lax safety regulations for manual laborers. Seto's father had died suddenly from an encounter with the blades of his farm combine while Serenity's father had died a slower, more painful death from long-term exposure to Uranium ore at Muraninite Minerals. Industry safety regulations had improved for a brief period of time, but all the rules were discarded when the oligarchy took power. However, to make up for some of the things he had done in the past and to please his wife, Seto decided to keep playing by the old rules. A sense of justice had re-awakened in him when he saw Samuel Wheeler die, and he was determined never to shame the memory of their fathers again.

Seto gazed into his wife's deeply troubled olivine eyes sympathetically. He knew that it was best if he went to work, but she would still be lonely without him. "I have an idea. Why don't you go shopping with Mokuba."

Serenity thought for a moment. Mokuba certainly wasn't the same annoying, immature kid he was when she first met him. He had proven himself to be a good, loyal friend over the years. "OK," Serenity said at last, "I'd still like it if you could come along, but I guess shopping with Mokuba would be fun."

Set smiled at her and softly kissed her forehead. "I wish that I could go too, but right now work is more urgent."

Seto and Serenity got out of their shower and stood in front of a huge blow-dryer which blasted their bodies with warm air. Then, they got dressed for work.


	12. Confession

**Music Lover's Alert**: "Ready 4 Love" by Cascada, "Not about us" by Genesis, and "Rebel in Me" by Jimmy Cliff in that order.

**Chapter 12 Confession**

Joan Saunders took the keys to a small economy car that all the residents at Rakitan Industries shared and started driving. It was not often that she used the car, but she really needed some time to think and get away from all the tension at home. Usually, she just took her bicycle out for a long ride to a small church out in the country, but this time was different. She knew the priest at the small church too well to confess all her sins to him. She needed to be completely anonymous this time; she needed to let herself disappear and see the big picture for a change.

As she drove, her mind drifted back to Timothy Saunders and the days they had spend together. She wondered where he was right now. She wondered where she would be if she had made different choices. What if she had never even gotten pregnant in the first place? Was the relationship really doomed from the start as Sean had tried to tell her, or would it have held together if they hadn't experienced such trauma? Her throat constricted and her stomach tied itself in knots, but she kept her eyes clear and on the road. It was the only thing she could do to keep herself sane.

Joan drove for a good hour until she reached a sign that said, "Domino City Limit." She looked up to see several skyscrapers ahead of her and let them overwhelm her. _I guess this is a good place to start._

Joan slowed the vehicle and pulled up beside a man walking down the sidewalk. She rolled down her window and called, "Excuse me, but do you happen to know where I can find a Catholic church around here?"

"Yeah," the man replied, "It's just up the street from Industrial Illusions."

"Where's that?"

"Are you kidding? It's only the second tallest building in the city." The man pointed to a rectangular gray tower that had a triangular section on top that flared outward.

"Thanks," Joan said before pulling back onto the road and heading towards the skyscraper.

Just as the man had said, the church was very close to Industrial Illusions. Joan parked the car and walked up to it. Luckily, there was a sign in front that read, "Walk-in confessions today."

_Our Lady of Faith_, Joan thought as she entered, _where have I heard that before_? The church was completely empty and quiet, but the door to the confessional was open. Joan took a seat in the dark little closet and closed the door behind her. She said the sign of the cross aloud nervously and waited for a response.

"What is it, child?" A young, soothing voice answered.

"Father, I have sinned. It has been over a year since my last confession, and so much has happened that I don't know where to begin."

_Here we go again. I bet she's going to tell me a bunch of stupid little things to avoid telling me about the big ones_, the priest thought. "Just tell me what is troubling you the most," he said.

"Well, it's kind-of complicated. So, I guess I'll start at the beginning. The thing is that I had sex outside of the marriage with this one guy and got pregnant."

_This is more juicy than I expected_, the priest thought, "So, you need some counseling on whether or not to marry him?" he asked.

"Oh no. That was years ago and I already confessed for that one. The thing is that I also made a vow never to have sex again and I promised to protect my friends from suffering the same fate I experienced."

She had his full attention now. "Which was?"

"Massive heartbreak and a stillborn child. Anyway, my friends and I can't afford to have emotional trauma like that in our lives. We're trying to save the world."

_I've never heard that one before. Then again, I've only been doing this for a couple of months_. "Save the world?" he repeated.

"Yeah. Um… we don't know if it is going to work yet, but the idea is to start out by educating people about things like child labor and hopefully get them to stop supporting the corporations that practice it. It's kind-of a covert thing, but that's really the only way we can do it without getting ourselves killed."

"That sounds like a noble cause. So, why are you here again?"

"Well… It's my people really. I don't know what else to call them, but the thing is that I'm responsible for them and they're… sinning."

There was a long pause before the priest said, "It's good to protect the innocent, but you can't be held responsible for the behavior of others. What are they doing anyway?"

"Fornicating," Joan whispered, "I tried to stop them but they're doing it anyway. Father, please help me."

There was another lengthy silence on the priest's part. "What exactly do you want me to do?"

"Well, I need to know what to say to them to get them to stop. I tried setting a good example for them, but it's not working."

"Child, it's really not up to you to decide how they choose to express their feelings."

"But it _is_! I've been there. I _know_. If they keep on doing what they're doing, God is going to punish them like he punished _me_!" Joan insisted.

_Poor girl. She's out of her mind_. "How do you know that God was _punishing_ you and not just pushing you in a different direction, giving you another chance at finding love?"

"I… I don't know. I loved him. I still do. I… I just know that he's the one, and even if he never comes back, he's still the one," Joan answered.

The priest rubbed his temples. He knew he could get in trouble for what he was about to say, but if this girl really was the government rebel she indicated that she was, she could probably understand the difference between the ideals of the faith and the institution of the church. Otherwise, why else would she be here questioning things? Why did she step out of line in the first place? "OK, whatever junk you heard about Jesus saving someone for you if you save yourself for marriage is just garbage invented by the church to control people. Listen child, sexuality is a gift from God that people use to express their feelings for each other. If your feelings are true, it's not fornication, just making love."

Joan was silent for a moment.

"Look, there's the letter of the law, the spirit of the law, and then there's just doing the right thing. The rules don't work in every situation, and sometimes the rules are just dead wrong."

"But I know that some of my people are having sex just to keep their other activities quiet. It's a total mess! They're breaking the rule I set for them, and they're not even doing it with people they love."

"The more you try to control the, the worse it becomes?"

"Pretty much."

"See my point? And what about you? Are you tempted to break your own rule?"

"I…" Joan hesitated. She thought of Trevor with his sweet smile and emerald green eyes. She thought of Sean, who had supported her through some of the toughest moments in her life. She had resisted giving into Sean's tempting lips only because others were watching. With Trevor, she barely resisted her urge to rip off his clothes and see what was under them. "… yeah," Joan admitted at last.

"Then be honest with yourself," the priest replied, "Don't hold back."

Joan leaned back on the hard little bench in the confessional and let the priest's words wash over her. It certainly wasn't what she was expecting to hear, but his voice sounded so soft and genuine that she almost wanted to melt. "What about you? When you love someone, do you make love to them?"

"You know I can't," the priest replied, "I, much like your people, am under the thumb of a more powerful entity that wants to do good, yet keeps such a firm grip on me that I can't do anything about it."

"The Pope?" Joan asked.

"Yes, the Pope."

Joan thought for a moment. "If you could make love to someone, would you?"

"That depends on-Hey! You're supposed to be the one under inspection here, not me!"

Joan chuckled. "Let me get this straight. You're telling me to go out and get laid, but you won't follow your own advice?"

The priest was silent for a moment, and then said, "It's too dangerous for me. I can't even flirt with a girl without drawing the attention of the Spanish Inquisition."

"Is that why you go for little boys instead?" Joan asked playfully.

"That's not funny, but it might be true for other priests. I wouldn't dream of molesting a child. I like women."

"Prove it," Joan taunted.

The priest hesitated. _Was this a trap_? Something in the girl's tone of voice told him that he could trust her. Besides, it wasn't every day he met someone who admitted what was really on her mind. "What is your name?" he asked.

"Joan," the girl replied, "And yours?"

"John. You're not from this parish, are you?"

"No, just visiting."

Father John breathed in her scent through the wooden screen between them that obscured her face. It reminded him of something very warm and welcoming like hot chocolate on a cold winter night. "Well Joan, do you seriously want me to prove what I am telling you?"

"Yes," Joan said without hesitation. The priest's words intrigued her, and since she trusted members of the clergy, she was more curious than she was scared.

Father John eyed the holes in the wooden screen. They just might be big enough. He fumbled with his keys until he found the one to his apartment, and then removed it from the keychain. His heart beat faster as he did so. He knew that he could get into so much trouble for what he was about to do, but at the same time he could not pass up this opportunity. "When you exit the church, turn right. As you walk, stay close to the building. When you reach the edge of it, turn right again and walk along a narrow pathway until you get to a plain, green door. When you get there, make sure that nobody is watching. Then, open the door with this." John pressed the key into one of the slots in the screen, but it got stuck. Panic flooded John's thoughts for a moment as he wondered what would happen if he could not get it all the way through. He tried to pull it back, but it would not budge. Taking a deep breath, John pushed the key as hard as he could. One of the wooden slats around the hole broke with a sickening crack, and the key went through. John let out his breath slowly and deliberately, saying, "Make yourself at home and wait for me inside. I'll try not to be too long."

Joan took the key and thanked him. "So… what about my sins?" she asked.

"You're absolved," Father John answered.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. Did you want the full ritualized version?"

"That's all right. I'll see you in a few minutes then?"

"See you soon."

Joan shoved the key into her pocket as she timidly left the confessional. Another woman stood outside waiting for her turn to speak to the priest. Other than that, the church was empty.

Joan walked around the outside of the church as Father John had instructed her until she came to a green door. She looked around warily to make sure that nobody was watching, and then took the key out of her pocket. Her fingers trembled as she fumbled with the lock, but she managed to get the door open quickly.

Joan entered the apartment and closed the door behind her. Her heart pounded wildly as she thought about what she was about to do. Everything she thought she knew about sex had just come crumbling down around her and now she had to build a new mental construct to explain things. The other priests she had spoken to always danced around the issue and avoided it, but Father John faced it head-on.

Joan's pulse slowed as she looked around the apartment. It was neat, but small and simple. The kitchenette had a small electric stove with a teakettle sitting on it. _Well, he did tell me to make myself at home_, she thought. She filled the kettle with tap water and started heating it on the stove while she searched for a cup and some tea.

When she had made herself a cup of tea, Joan went into the main living area and sat down in a nice, plump chair upholstered with brown rayon. In front of her was a coffee table with a notebook and some Catholic magazines. The notebook intrigued Joan, but it looked private, so she picked up a magazine and flipped through it. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she had a feeling that she would not find it. Every article that even remotely addressed sex simply danced around the subject, never giving a reason for abstinence aside from a vague reference to morality. As she read further, Joan began to see the same words over and over again. The text became so repetitive that the letters started to swim before her eyes and Joan drifted off to sleep in Father John's chair.


	13. Blind Date

**Author's Note:** In this reality, Kaiba Corporation is still huge, but dwarfed by Global Enterprises, Stellar Defense, and the other big boys. While Seto Kaiba still has considerable fame among the dueling world, he is not a universal household name.

Oh, and nobody wanted to name any characters, so I just picked some random ones for the minor ones and did not elaborate on them.

**Music Lover's Alert:** "True Colors" by Phil Collins… actually, that only works for part of it. If you have any more song suggestions, please let me know!

**Chapter 13 Blind Date**

Mokuba, Seto, and Serenity sat around the breakfast table together on a sunny Saturday morning. Their chef brought them deliciously prepared eggs, potatoes, and other hearty foods. Serenity gobbled the food down enthusiastically, feeding the tiny life inside her in addition to herself.

"Mokuba, do you have any plans today?" Serenity asked between bites.

"Um… one of my classmates at the university set me up on a blind date, but that's not until this evening. Why do you ask?" Mokuba replied. He ate heartily as well to support his impressive muscles while Seto only picked at his food as he reviewed his to-do list on his handheld electronic device.

"I want to pick out a crib for our daughter, but Seto is busy today. So, I was wondering if you would go shopping with me," Serenity said.

Mokuba shot Seto an odd look, but Seto didn't even look up from his gadget. Since he had no good excuse not to go shopping with his sister-in-law and it seemed like a moderately pleasant way to spend his afternoon, Mokuba said, "Yeah, I'll go with you."

Again, Seto did not look up from his device, nor did he engage in conversation throughout the rest of the meal. When he was done eating, he rose, gave Serenity a quick peck on the lips, and left for work.

As soon as he left, Mokuba said, "I was afraid of this."

"Afraid of what?" Serenity asked.

"He's acting like the typical CEO husband. Once the honeymoon phase is over, CEOs pretty much forget they even have wives."

"But this is an emergency," Serenity defended, "I'm sure things will go back to normal in a week or two."

"I hope so, too. It's just that I've seen the same thing happen in countless CEO families." Mokuba finished off his breakfast and laid his cloth napkin neatly on the table. "Anyway, I'm going to work out now. I'll see you this afternoon."

After Mokuba left, Serenity stared at the dirty dishes on the table while a maid picked them up. _Could it be true?_ Serenity recalled her brief encounter with Mrs. Jones, the wife of Gilbert Jones. She was a large and seemingly cheerful woman, but behind her cordiality lay a deep loneliness. Serenity had seen pain in the woman's eyes. She almost wished she had taken time to befriend and get to know Mrs. Jones better, but the possibility of running into Mr. Jones again made her shudder. She never wanted to attend another corporate gala as long as she lived. She could barely stand to look at him on the TV. Although it had only been a few short years since Gilbert Jones had unleashed his deadly satellite weapons on millions of political dissenters around the world, he looked as if he had aged ten years. The very nature of his business seemed to take a toll on his soul. _That couldn't possibly happen to Seto_, Serenity reassured herself.

Eager to make the most of her day, Serenity left the dining room and went to her study. It was a beautiful, yet simple room that Seto had created for her. An elegant mahogany desk stood in the center of the room surrounded by matching bookshelves and a cabinet where she liked to keep a few extra medical supplies beyond a simple first-aid kit. The first-aid kits were present in all the restrooms in the mansion plus the kitchen.

Serenity picked up one of the books she had bought about infant care and sat down to read it. She became so engrossed in it that she barely noticed the passage of time until a sudden craving for egg drop soup with peanut butter and watermelon struck her. Serenity closed her book, placed her order with the chef via intercom, and wandered downstairs. Walking was getting more difficult for her every day, but luckily she was still able to make it around the house without any assistance.

Serenity met Mokuba in the dining room where they ate lunch together and headed to Domino Mall. They went straight for The Baby Shop, which sold everything that one could ever need to care for an infant. A middle-aged woman with lots of energy quickly offered them her assistance. "Can I help you find anything?"

"Yes please! I'm looking for things for my little girl's nursery, mainly a crib," Serenity said, patting her swollen belly.

"Is this your first child?" the woman asked.

"Yes," Serenity answered.

The woman turned her attention to Mokuba briefly. "You must be so proud," she said with a broad smile.

Mokuba wasn't sure how to react, so he just nodded and returned her smile.

"So," their assistant said, turning back to Serenity, "How big is your nursery going to be?"

"It's about from this shelf to that counter," Serenity said, pointing to a display that was about ten meters away from them.

The clerk's smile broadened even more. "So, you've got lots of space to fill then?"

Serenity nodded.

"Well, we better get started!" The woman started leading Serenity and Mokuba through the store. "Most people see the crib as the focal point of the nursery, and base the rest of the theme around it. Have you painted it yet?"

"No," Serenity answered.

"Good! Let's choose the crib first and then figure out the rest. Some of our cribs come with matching wallpaper and accessories. Do you have anything in particular in mind?"

Serenity and Mokuba through for a minute, then Mokuba spoke, "Our place is pretty big, so we probably won't be able to hear her from most rooms in the house. Is there some way we could hook an alert system into our intercom if she cries?"

The store clerk beamed. "Absolutely. We can do even better than that, actually." She stood behind a pink crib and rested her hands on it. "This is the Uh-Oh Alert 3000. It has special sensors that tell you exactly what your daughter needs. It is perfect for new parents, and makes it easy for Dad to lend a hand when Mom can't do it." She looked from Mokuba to Serenity, smiling as she spoke.

"That's so cool!" Serenity cried, "I'll take it!"

"What does your husband think?" the woman asked.

Not paying much attention to exactly what the store clerk was implying, Mokuba glanced at the price tag. "It's not cheap, but it's not outrageous, either. It's not a Schroeder item, so it will probably last a while. I don't recognize the corporation that put this together. Where is their factory?"

The woman shrugged, "I have no idea."

Mokuba was hoping to get something that was not constructed by slave labor, but with virtually no regulations on corporations these days, there was no way to be certain. Also, he knew that mentioning it could offend the clerk. "Well, I guess we'll never really know for sure, so we might as well get it," Mokuba said.

"Good! Let's pick out some other things, now," the store clerk said.

Serenity and Mokuba browsed through the rest of the store with the aid of the woman. When they had selected several more items, they took their purchases up to the cash register.

A girl with long, smooth black hair rang up their purchase. Strangely, the guy in front of her looked a lot like the guy in the picture her friend had sent her. He looked even cuter, actually. From the way his muscled bulged under his T-shirt, she decided that he must have an amazing body. _His wife is so lucky_, she thought to herself. The girl finished ringing up their purchases, and Serenity handed her a debit card. The girl looked down at the name on the card and almost had a heart attack. Serenity _Kaiba!? That's… OMG! Mokuba wasn't supposed to have a wife!_

"Is something wrong?" Serenity asked the girl behind the counter.

A drop of sweat glistened on the girl's forehead, "Oh, not at all! I'm sorry Mrs. Kaiba." The girl quickly swiped the card through her machine and handed it back to Serenity. "Now, just input your PIN on the keypad please."

Serenity pressed a few buttons on the machine that was facing her, and then waited for her receipt to print. The girl kept glancing at Mokuba and looking away awkwardly. Serenity wondered if she found Mokuba attractive and smiled pleasantly.

The receipt finished printing, and the girl handed it to Serenity. "Have a nice day," she said with the sweetest smile she could muster under the circumstances.

"Thank you," Serenity said kindly.

Mokuba picked up the crib while Serenity carried the other goods they had bought. Although the crib was in its box and not assembled, it was still huge and very heavy. Even so, Mokuba lifted it with ease. The crib came with a free delivery option, but Mokuba figured he could impress girls by carrying it around. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that walking around with a giant crib in a box drew even more attention to the fact that he was walking around with a pregnant woman.

The middle-aged store clerk and the young cash register operator watched them as they left. "Cute couple, don't you think?" The older woman said to the girl.

The girl sighed heavily. "Yeah. It's a shame he's cheating on her."

"What do you mean?" The older woman asked in surprise.

"He was supposed to be my blind date tonight. My best friend's boyfriend Paul set us up."

"No!"

"Yes!" The girl took out her cell-phone and showed the older woman the photo that she had received.

The older woman gasped! "I'm so sorry, Melody! Anyway, I say you forget about that creep and enjoy yourself tonight without him."

…Several Hours Later….

Mokuba got out of the limo a block away from the restaurant where he was supposed to meet his date and walked there. After several failed relationships, he had learned not to reveal too much about his financial status until after he had gotten to know a woman. Women tended to hide their true personalities when the prospect of snagging a rich husband was presented to them. They would cover up their flaws and act all strange.

Serenity was an exception to that rule. She was genuinely sweet to the core and never hid her true colors. Mokuba was not sure why she chose Seto over him, but he had a feeling it had something to do with a spitball he threw at her in junior high. Mokuba deeply regretted giving into that childish impulse, especially now that he was seriously looking for a girlfriend. He simply could not find one as beautiful and kind-hearted as Serenity. Tea seemed like a good person, but she now lived in Tokyo and Mokuba barely knew her in the first place. Furthermore, she was still holding out for her ex-boyfriend Yugi who had married Ishizu as a legal formality to protect the Millennium items from falling into the hands of Bakura. It was all so complicated.

Still, Mokuba was hopeful that tonight he might find true love. Mokuba reached the restaurant and looked around for his date. He did not know what she looked like, but he was told that she had long black hair and would be wearing a green dress. Mokuba found a girl matching that description and introduced himself, but the girl just backed away from him and ran to a guy who gave Mokuba a hostile stare.

After several minutes of looking and waiting, Mokuba pulled out his phone and called his classmate Paul, who had set him up on the date in the first place. "Hey Paul, I can't seem to find her. Could you find out if she's still coming?" Mokuba asked.

"Sure thing. I'll call you back and let you know," the other college student replied.

Mokuba hung his phone and waited for several more minutes. Then, his phone rang and he answered it immediately. "What's the verdict?"

"Look dude, I'm really sorry about this, but I don't think she's coming. When I called her, she was totally drunk. She was like, shouting some pretty nasty stuff at me, too. She wasn't making much sense, either. Sorry, man," Paul said.

"I don't get it. I thought you said she was classy and had a steady job and all that. Why would she drink before a date?"

"I don't know, man. She sounded really upset about something, though. She called me every name she could put her tongue to. She said some pretty shitty stuff about you, too."

"What did she say?" Mokuba inquired.

"It was pretty incoherent, but she kept using the phrase 'rat bastard.' I'm really sorry, man. I thought she was too classy to use that kind of language, but I guess I was wrong."

"So, I came out here for nothing?" Mokuba asked, disappointed.

"Pretty much," Paul replied.

"Mokuba sighed and said, "Fine. I'll see you in class on Tuesday."

"See you then, dude."

Mokuba hung up the phone and stared into the twilight sky. He thanked the heavens that he had found out about the girl's drinking problem before she had found out about his money. He briefly considered eating at the restaurant alone, but the thought of having nobody to keep him company did not sit well with him. At home, he could at least watch TV if Seto and Serenity were not available. He called his driver to come pick him up at the restaurant and went home.

As soon as Mokuba got home, Serenity greeted him with a soft smile. "You're back early. Did everything go OK?"

Mokuba shrugged. "I guess. I got stood up, but it's kind-of a good thing because the girl turned out to be an alcoholic anyway. Is Seto home yet?"

Serenity shook her head. "He sent me a text message saying that he would be late. So, do you want to watch another movie with me or something?"

"That sounds great!" Mokuba agreed.

The two of them settled down on the soft white leather couch in front of the giant flat-screen TV and picked another movie to watch while their chef prepared dinner for them.

**Closing Note:** So, the lesson here is not to make assumptions, jump to conclusions, or judge people. You never know what is going on with someone until you ask.

Please review!


	14. Penance

**Warning!**

**OC Lemon Alert!**

Do not read if you are not old enough to view erotic content, easily offended, uncomfortable with human bodily functions, or hold a fundamentalist view on religion. Oh, and happy Mayan calendar rollover day!

**Music Lover's Alert: **"Give Me A Reason To Love You" by Portishead works as good background music for this just to set the mood. If any other songs pop into your head while reading this or other chapters, please let me know! I'm constantly looking for new music and it helps inspire me.

**Chapter 14 Penance**

Father John approached his door nervously, wondering if he would be able to get in or if the girl from the confessional had run away with his key. Not wanting to be caught absent from his duties, he had stayed in the confessional for two hours after she left, scolding himself for being so foolish and quick to act. He took a deep breath and turned the doorknob slowly. It opened easily.

"Joan?" he called softly.

No answer

John cautiously entered his apartment, expecting to find his key beside an apologetic note on the coffee table. Instead, he found an angel sleeping in his armchair. Father John gasped. She was far younger and more beautiful than he had dared to hope she would be. Her long, curly dark auburn hair cascaded around her smooth, heart-shaped face. Her full lips were slightly parted as she breathed evenly and peacefully. A hand with long, slender fingers pointed at a magazine that lay on the floor beside her.

Father John approached her slowly, not wanting to disturb her. She looked like she belonged in that chair and he was the intruder. Still, he could not resist drawing nearer. He found himself hovering over her, his lips only centimeters from hers. _Do I dare_? He thought. In a moment of resolve, he closed the gap between them, pressing his lips to hers.

Deep in sleep, Joan felt something cut off her air supply and opened her mouth wider only to find something better than air. She wrapped her lips around it, savoring the warmth and novel texture of the object. Her body adjusted to the odd sensations by incorporating them into her dreams and breathing through her nose.

Joan found herself back in college, sitting on Trevor's lap as she had once sat on Tímo's lap. This was different, though. Trevor held her firmly and securely, as if he was assuring her that he would never let her go. Then, out of nowhere came Sean. Sean stroked her lips with his fingers, sending explosions of pleasure through her body. Trevor continued to hold her securely, and this served to feed the fire she felt building in her core. Joan kissed Sean with more force than she had ever kissed anyone and felt bristles. _Wait, bristles? Sean doesn't have bristles!_

Joan's eyes shot open, and she saw a strange man's face so close to hers that her eyes could not focus on it properly. However, she knew instantly that it did not belong to Tímo or Trevor or Sean. Disoriented, her vocal cords produced a short, high-pitched sound that would have come out as "eep" if she had full control over her tongue and lips.

The man drew away from her quickly and blubbered some sort of apology. Joan stared silently at him while incoherent words spewed out of his mouth. He could not be older than thirty-five, and his lean face sported a dark goatee that made him look robustly handsome. His hair was moderately short, and also very dark, crowning his head with a certain air of dignity that could never be erased no matter what foolish words he uttered.

In a move to quiet him, Joan eased forward and slipped her arms around his neck. Then, she pulled his face close to hers for another, fully conscious kiss. With her lips, she expressed all of the passions that she had denied ever since she lost contact with Tímo. Father John tasted vaguely like a hot tamale, and once she got a nibble, she craved more.

Joan drew her fingers along the stiff collar of Father John's Franciscan habit, trying to figure out how to remove the garment. John caught her right wrist with his left hand and drew it away from his neck. Then, he tugged on a cord at his waist with his free hand until it was loose. After that, he guided her hands to the proper place where she could assist him in removing his clothes. He helped her slide the habit over his head, revealing a plain fitted T-shirt tucked into a pair of blue jeans.

Joan could hardly believe how ruggedly sexy the priest looked without his uniform. His physique rivaled that of any professional Kalvin Clein underwear model, and Joan could not help but reach out and feel his abs to find out if they really were as hard and firm as they looked.

"Now Joan, let's not rush things," he said playfully, grabbing her hands and preventing them from probing below his waist.

Joan stared at John with a pleading, begging lust swirling in the little gold flecks that rimmed her blue eyes. "Father John, please!"

"Please what?"

"Please banish this burning desire from my soul."

Father John kissed her again in a soft, patronizing way that caused Joan to squirm in her chair. "You realize that there is only one place for it to _cum_ out, right?"

"Yes, John, yes! Just help me, please!" Joan insisted.

Father John let go of Joan's hands and brought his own down to her lap. He swiftly undid her jeans and pulled them down about thirty centimeters along with her panties. Joan pressed her back against the chair and lifted her hips, making the task easy for him. At the same time, she lifted her shirt over her head, revealing a simple white bra.

Father John grinned when he saw her hard, excited nipples straining against the thin fabric of her snowy bra. "Are you sure you're not a virgin?" he asked as he slid his hand between her legs.

Joan gasped when she felt the tips of his fingers brush against her clitoris. Tímo had touched her there, but not quite in the same way. "For you, I am," she uttered quickly.

John stroked her a little more firmly, but continued to tease her. Joan began to squirm and moan in the chair, begging him with her lustful glittering eyes to take it all the way.

John stopped for a moment and placed a finger over her lips. "Shh… I do have neighbors, you know."

"Sorry. It's just that you're so good. Do you do this often?"

"No. I just read a lot about it when I was a teenager. That was before I joined the order and my internet services started being monitored. So, how would you like to take this to the bedroom?"

"It's OK. I'm comfortable here."

"Yeah, but I'm not. Plus, your juices… the bed will be easier to clean."

Joan noticed for the first time that she already felt wetter than she had ever felt in her entire life. If this man lived up to his word-and Joan was starting to believe that he would-there was no telling how much more fluid she might expel. "All right, let's go!" Joan agreed at last.

Before she could move, Father John scooped her up bridal-style and carried her into a small room with a tiny bed. Other than a few religious trinkets, the room was barren of any decorations. However, Joan was not looking at the room; she was looking straight into John's soft brown eyes.

John laid Joan down on the little bed, and she eagerly reached for the buckle on his belt. This time, John let her remove it as he ran his fingers through her luxurious dark auburn curls.

Joan pulled down John's jeans and kicked her own off her ankles. A handsomely large member appeared before Joan's face. For a moment, she was intimidated by its massive sixe, but quickly assured herself that she could enjoy it without attempting to fit it inside her. Besides, she had not brought any protection and she had rejected the condoms her friends tried to give her several years ago.

Joan gripped John's penis with both hands and stroked it cautiously. John kissed her softly on the forehead, and then whispered in her ear, "Do you do this often?"

"No," Joan whispered back.

"It shows," John replied with a smile. He leaned over briefly and took a bottle of aloe vera gel out of a drawer by his bed. "Here. Lube me up, then give it all you've got. Do it like you mean it."

Joan took the bottle and did as she was told, squirting a liberal amount of gel onto John's manhood. Then, she slipped her hands around it and played with it. She found it challenging to maintain control of it, but also a lot of fun. It reminded her vaguely of an exercise that Sean had conducted with all of the teams at Rakitan Industries to help them increase their hand-eye coordination.

After several minutes, John squeezed Joan's shoulders and said, "Wait! I forgot something!" Joan gave John a questioning look, but let go of his penis. Before she could blink, John grabbed a paper towel out of the drawer and wrapped it around his cock. "OK. Continue."

Joan placed her hand over the paper towel and continued as before, and after just a few seconds it twitched under her grasp and she felt a little goo seeping through the paper towel.

"Oh God!" he said as he grabbed a second and third paper towel to soak up everything. Joan let go of his penis and let him take care of it himself. Once finished, he collapsed on the bed beside her.

Joan looked down at him awkwardly for a few seconds. _Did I really just make a priest cum?_ She wondered. Then, she decided that it really didn't matter and snuggled up to him. She put her ear against his chest and listened to his rapid heartbeat slow to a more steady, contented beat. However, she was still not satisfied.

After letting him recover for a few minutes, she said, "John, I still have that demon inside of me."

"You want me to get it out?"

"Yes! please!"

John grabbed several more paper towels and started stroking her again. Joan suppressed her moans of pleasure by sucking on his earlobe.

"Hey! If you're going to do that, do it somewhere where it won't show."

"Sorry," Joan said before switching to his shoulder.

The priest dipped a finger into her and Joan felt that her whole body was on fire. She lifted one leg over his hip so that he could have more room for a second finger, and he took it. She felt the appendages fill her and closed her eyes, reveling in every wave of pleasure that he sent through her body. He continued to pleasure her for several minutes until her juices gushed forth.

Joan panted and gasped while John meticulously cleaned up everything.

"All you all right?" Father John asked.

"Better than all right. I needed that. Wow!" she said.

Father John chuckled. "Glad I could be of service. Will you be back for more?"

Joan thought of her people back home and blushed. Despite what she had learned through her confession, a wave of guilt washed over her. _What if the priest was just seducing me to learn more about my secret society? No that can't be. He has as much to lose as I do if anyone ever found out about our intimate time together. Maybe even more._ It would take some time to sort through these new emotions. "I… I don't know. You're so far from me that I don't know how often I'll get the chance to come out and see you. I just can't say for sure right now."

John kissed her forehead. "That's all right. Hey, let's shower before you go. I could get in trouble if anyone smells you on me."

There was barely enough room for both of them in John's tiny shower, but they managed to fit somehow. The water felt warmly refreshing as it washed their bodies clean. Father John's helping hands soothed her troubled soul as they slowly lathered her body with soap and she returned the favor. When at last they were clean and had redressed, John kissed Joan goodbye expecting never to see her again, but hoping that he would.

**Closing Note: **Thanks for reading and please review or PM if you are like Father John and you don't want any of your friends to know that you are reading this!


	15. Hermos

**Warning:** If life makes you uncomfortable… this is probably not your story. Otherwise, enjoy!

**Chapter 15 Hermos**

Serenity was taking a nap on the couch when her phone buzzed to life. Since Seto had been coming home at irregular hours in the morning, she had found it increasingly difficult to get a full night's sleep in their bed. There was something about sleeping in that huge bed all alone that disturbed her. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if the bed was a full of even a queen, but it was about the size of four king beds put together. It was more than extravagant for two people. Although Serenity had managed to fall asleep in it without Seto on occasion, it still gave her the creeps.

Serenity groggily reached for her phone on the coffee table and put it to her hear. "Hello?" she answered.

"Serenity, come quick! Mai is screaming her head off at me and I don't know what to do," Joey said in a panicked voice.

Serenity groaned and stretched her free arm, then propped herself up with it. The couch was so soft and luxurious that she had to fight the urge to fall back asleep. "Did her water break yet?"

"Um… I didn't know water could break," Joey replied in a dumbfounded voice.

"Put Mai on the phone," Serenity said, rubbing her temples.

"Sure thing."

A woman's labored breathing came over the phone. "Get this thing out of me," she yelled in agony.

Serenity held the phone a decimeter away from her ear so that she would not be subjected to the intense volume of her screams. "Calm down, Mai. How long ago did this start?"

"Right after Joey left for work."

"_What_? Why didn't you get to a hospital? You could have called me. I would have driven you."

"My mother and-ah! And her mother and my great grandmother and… and… ah!... none of them ever went to a hospital."

"All right, fine. I'm not letting you go through this without a medical professional, though. I'll be right over." Serenity hung up the phone and dashed outside.

She did not want to wait for the limo driver to come back from Kaiba Corp and picked her up, so she grabbed the keys to a red internal combustion engine sports car Seto kept in the garage and strapped herself into the seat. One feature Serenity liked about the car was how it automatically adjusted the seat and food pedals to accommodate her swollen abdomen. The child inside her seemed to agree as well, kicking contentedly as she fastened her seatbelt. The engine roared to life, and Serenity stepped on the accelerator. It surged forward much faster than she expected and spooked her a little, but she quickly adjusted to the vehicle's abundant power by driving more cautiously than usual.

Serenity navigated her way through Domino easily, arriving at her brother's house in less than ten minutes. She parked the red sports car in front of the house behind Mai's blue convertible and made her way up to the door.

Before she could ring the doorbell, Joey opened the door and flung himself at her. "Save me, sis! My wife has gone insane!" Joey said as the grasped her huge waist awkwardly.

Serenity patted her brother on the head, noticing that his messy blond hair was even more out of place than usual. It stuck out from his head at odd angles and smelled like chocolate ice cream mixed with auto grease. Serenity gripped Joey's shoulders and pulled him up so that she could look him in the eye. She found his face smeared with food as well as gunk from a long day at work. "Joey, you just go shower. I'll take care of Mai."

"Can't. She's in the bathtub." As Joey spoke, Serenity heard a shrill scream emanating from deep within the house. She patted Joey on the back and left him on the porch while she rushed inside to find the source of the noise.

Serenity found Mai naked in a bathtub full of water surrounded by various food items that Joey had tried to bring her as peace offerings. Some dishes were balanced precariously on the back of the toilet while others were shattered on the floor. Serenity carefully picked her way around the sharp pieces of porcelain and crouched beside the bathtub. "Breathe, Mai. Just breathe."

Mai stopped screaming for a moment and did as she was told. Then, she yelled, "I don't need your drugs or your knives. I'm going to push this baby out on my own or die trying."

"Relax, Mai. I'm just here to make sure everything goes OK," Serenity said in a soothing voice. She reached over Mai's stomach and palpated it systematically.

"No needles, no weird tables, no latex gloves, no-Ah!" Mai screamed.

Serenity sighed with relief when she found that the baby's head was already pointed downwards. "I don't think you'll need any of that, Mai. You're doing well. Just keep up the good work."

The blonde screamed again.

"Push Mai, Push!" Serenity yelled over Mai's screams. Serenity pulled back the sleeves of her pink maternity blouse and placed her hands below Mai's pelvis in preparation to catch the baby.

Flecks of blood and tissue drifted out of Mai's cervix and settled to the bottom of the bathtub as the baby's head emerged from her. Mai's face contorted in concentration as she followed Serenity's direction. She pushed with every ounce of strength she had until the baby's head popped free of her womb. Serenity gently but firmly grasped the child and brought it up for air.

The baby took its first breath, and then let out a robust squall. Serenity examined it for a few moments. Assessing its color, muscle tone, respiratory effort, and reflex responsivity. Then, she wrapped it in a towel and handed it to Mai. "Congratulations! It's an 8," Serenity said.

"A what?" came Joey's voice from the doorway.

Serenity turned around to see her brother peering timidly into the room. "It's and 8 on the Apgar scale," she explained.

Joey stared at her in a confused manner.

"It's healthy," Serenity clarified.

"But… is it a boy or a girl?" Joey asked.

A little smile teased over Serenity's lips. "You never got an ultrasound?"

Mai re-adjusted her grip on the infant so that she could peek under the towel at the baby's genitals. "It's a boy!" she declared.

Joey fist-pumped the air. "Yeah! That's my boy Hermos!" He charged past Serenity to get a closer look at his son. "Dang! He sure is big and strong!"

Serenity did a double-take. "Big and strong? Last time I checked, he… nevermind." From what she could see, the boy's Apgar score had definitely risen to 9, perhaps even 10. Serenity shook her head with a smile, and then went to search for something to cut the umbilical cord, leaving Joey and Mai to bond with their newborn son Hermos.

**Closing Note: **I have never been pregnant, nor do I plan to become pregnant in the future. I learned all this stuff from a human development psychology course. Otherwise, I would have been totally lost and this chapter would have sucked. Special thanks to my textbook:

Cole, M., Cole, S. R., & Litefoot, C. (2005). _The Development of Children_ (5th ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.

And a documentary called "The Business of Being Born"


	16. Kidnapped

**Chapter 16 Kidnapped**

Serenity got back home exhausted from helping Mai and Joey with their new son. She was glad that she was on maternity leave from the hospital and shuddered at the thought of what it would be like if she had to get up early the next morning and spend a whole day on her swollen feet. Joey and Mai had fed her a hearty dinner, and the extra weight was taking even more of a toll than usual. She waddled into the living room where she found Mokuba watching TV.

"Hey Serenity! What's happening?" the young man with long black hair and broad shoulders greeted her.

"Mai had her baby," Serenity announced wearily. She plopped down on the couch beside Mokuba and propped her feet up on the coffee table, "What's happening with you?"

Mokuba gestured toward a laptop next to her feet. "I'm doing some marketing research for Seto. I know we have specialist for this kind of stuff, but it's the least I can do."

"How is college going?" Serenity asked.

"Great! I seem to get on well with all of my professors, but…"

"But?"

Mokuba smiled sheepishly, "But the girls are ignoring me. I don't know what it is. I got a few dates in the beginning, but now they want nothing to do with me. I don't get it. Serenity, what am I doing wrong?"

Serenity looked over Mokuba from head to toe. She had to admit that he had grown into a fine young man_. If only I had known years ago that he would turn out to be-No! I made my decision and I'm sticking by it_, Serenity told herself firmly. She shook the thought from her mind and quickly thought up a way to respond to Mokuba's question. "Well, you haven't thrown any spitballs at anybody recently, have you?"

"No," Mokuba sighed.

"In that case, just keep being yourself. I'm sure you'll meet the right person eventually, or maybe you already have met her and you just don't know it yet."

Mokuba gave Serenity a longing look she had not seen him use since before he resigned himself to the fact that she was in love with his older brother.

"Um…" Serenity began nervously. She bit her lower lip slightly as she tried to figure out what to say next. "Are you still in touch with Tea?"

"Sort-of… barely. Every time I call her, she pines about Yugi for hours. So, I never even get the chance to ask her out."

"Yeah, that's a tough one. Maybe someday she'll get over him if you just keep being a friend to her. In the meantime, let's watch a movie. I'm too tired to even think anymore," Serenity said truthfully.

"Good idea," Mokuba agreed. He picked up the remote control and flipped through the list of movies. He settled on a simple chick flick for Serenity's sake and started up the movie.

Serenity tried to stay awake, but her head kept drooping. Sleep finally overtook her, and she fell into a more comfortable position with her head resting on Mokuba's shoulder. Mokuba glanced at her in surprise, and soon realized that she was in such a deep sleep that she probably did not know what she was doing. Not wanting to wake her from her slumber, he continued to watch the movie and tried to stay awake himself. However, he too drifted off to sleep before the end of the movie.

….Several Hours Later…

Seto Kaiba dragged his tired bones into the mansion. His neck and back ached so much that he wondered if he should seek medical attention. In any case, Serenity could advise him on which medications to take to ease the pain and perhaps even give him a massage if she was still awake.

Seto hauled his briefcase upstairs and put it away in his home office. Then, he went to the master bedroom and started to undress. He hung his trench coat in the closet and felt a strange chill run down his spine. Something was missing, but he could not figure out what it was. Had he forgotten to deal with an important document at work? Was there a major appointment he had to attend early in the morning tomorrow? No, his secretary would handle that for him and if she did not, he would fire her. Ms. Brown always did everything efficiently and perfectly, anyway. Still, something seemed odd.

Seto dropped the last of his clothes into a laundry basket cleverly disguised as a decorative urn and climbed into bed. He reached out to touch his wife and found nothing but cold, empty sheets. Burrowing deeper into the massive bed, he searched for her warm, soft skin. _Where is she?_ Seto wondered as he became more and more impatient. He worked his way from one end of the bed to the other, searching for her. Confused and disoriented, he thrashed about in the bed for several more minutes until he finally threw all the linens off the bed, jumped up, and turned on the light. _No Serenity._

An icy chill surged through Seto's heart. _Somebody must have kidnapped her. Now that she and our daughter are both heirs to Kaiba Corporation, she's a walking magnet for snakes like Pegasus and Bakura! Oh no! Hell no!_

Seto yanked on a blue silk robe that Serenity had picked for him and raced to Mokuba's room to see if he was still safe, but found it empty. _No! No, no, no!_ Pain knifed through Seto's heart once more as he found it empty. _Those bastards kidnapped my brother, too!_ The world swam before Seto's eyes and he almost collapsed, but instead he clutched the doorframe until the feeling passed.

Then, he snapped into action. Using the mansion's intercom, he contacted his security guards. "When were Serenity and Mokuba last in the mansion?"

"Sir, I don't think you're going to like this," came the reply.

"Tell me," Seto said in his harshest tone.

"They're in the living room, but-"

Seto shut off the intercom and raced downstairs. _That lazy, incompetent guard it going to pay if he let anyone harm my family!_

Seto burst into the living room ready to face whoever had been holding his family hostage head-on, but instead found the room peacefully quiet. The television was on, emitting a soft glow over two bodies that lay on the white leather couch. Their feet rested on opposite arms of the couch, and their upper bodies were strangely but comfortably entwined. Mokuba's arms encircled Serenity's belly protectively, and his ear was pressed close as if he was listening to his niece's heartbeat.

Relief washed over Seto when he found out that his family was safe. He almost cried out with joy, but then decided not to disturb their sleep. Instead, he crept up to them and gave them three kisses; one on his brother's forehead, one on his wife's forehead, and one on his wife's stomach for their unborn daughter. Then, he left the room.

He touched the intercom button in the hallway outside the living room. "Why the hell did you imply that my family was in trouble?"

The guard hesitated. "I… er…"

"Don't ever do that again. If they're safe, tell me immediately. I don't need your bullshit jokes."

"Yes, sir!"

After scolding his security guard for making him worry, Seto went back to his room and fell asleep.

**Closing Note: **Please review! My life has been really weird lately, but I somehow managed to keep on my update schedule, so just drop me a line!


	17. Breaking Barriers

**Music Lover's Alert: **If you like to listen to music while you read, I recommend "Pressure" by Paramore for the first part and "Hello Dolly" from the movie for later in the chapter.

**Chapter 17 Breaking Barriers**

Joan arrived back at Rakitan Industries so late that almost everyone else had gone to sleep. However, she still encountered a few people creeping through the hallways. Instead of simply exchanging greetings with her or nodding politely and going on their way, they made up unnecessary excuses for why they were out of bed. However, after what Trevor had told her, Joan knew better. She wanted to tell them that she knew and understood, but they were all too jittery and eager to get back to their own beds. Therefore, Joan just nodded at them and let them go.

By the time Joan got back to her room, she was grinning from ear to ear at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. Why hadn't she just listened to Sean all along? What had started off as a dignified and moral society had degenerated into one where people snuck around behind each other's backs. It was all because of one simple rule: no romantic relationships, no exceptions. Now, people were keeping so many secrets from each other that Joan could not even begin to guess who was partnered with whom. The possibilities spun through her head as she drifted off to sleep, too preoccupied with her thoughts to realize that she was still wearing her clothes.

…

The next day, Joan woke to a knock on her door. The voice of her best friend Tam reached her ears, but she could not tell what she was saying. Joan looked up at her alarm clock bleary-eyed and saw that it was already afternoon.

"Joan? Are you OK in there?" Tam's words finally registered in her mind.

"Yeah… come in," Joan replied at last.

Tam entered the room to find Joan still under the blankets in bed and stood in the middle of the room awkwardly trying to decide how to react. "You missed the meeting… Sean told me afterwards to go find you. Everyone is worried sick about you."

Joan let out a long yawn and stretched happily, then sat upright. She gestured for Tam to sit beside her and Tam took the offer.

"So… you had a good night, I take it?" Tam inquired hesitantly.

"How did you know?"

"Um… no reason."

Joan grinned broadly and stretched some more. "I met a man yesterday."

Tam stared silently back at her friend. The secrets she had kept from Joan burned in the pit of her stomach.

"He taught me how to love again," Joan continued.

"And you let him?" Tam asked curiously.

"Yes, but it's not just him. I keep thinking about Sean and Trevor, too."

Tam went rigid. _Those are the guys I love_, she thought, _is Joan trying to get me to fess up or something_?

Joan continued speaking despite Tam's silence. "It's strange; I've been suppressing my feelings for so long that I had to go out and fool around with a priest. I could just make a habit of driving out there to see him every so often and never tell anybody, but then that would make things worse. I'd be keeping everything bottled up inside. Do you get what I'm saying?"

Tam nodded slowly. _Of course I understand. You have no idea!_

"And then one day, what if I lose it again? What if I can't contain myself anymore and do something really stupid?"

"Like what?"

"What if I wind up in Sean's bed one of these days?"

"So what if you do?" Tam said it more like a challenge than a question, "He always wanted you there anyway."

"But I thought that… I don't know what I thought anymore. Everything seems like it happened so long ago now."

Tam's gaze toward her friend softened.

-flashback-

Sean turned to the eighteen year-old girls and offered them hugs as well. "Hi Joan! Hi Tamara! I'm so glad to finally meet you!"

"Just call me Tam," the girl in black said, smiling broadly and giving him a flirtatious look with her amber eyes. "So, any chance you want to catch a movie with me after this, handsome?"

Joan elbowed Tam in the ribs. "_Hey!_ That's _my_ pen-pal you're talking to."

"Yeah, but _I_ saw him first, _remember_? You wouldn't even look at his picture until _I_ told you how cute he was." Tam countered.

Sean swiftly moved in-between the girls to separate them and put an arm around each girl's shoulder. "Ladies, _please_! There's plenty of me to go around."

Tam and Joan glared at him suspiciously. "All guys say that," Joan said.

-end flashback-

"He wasn't kidding, you know," Tam said.

"I know that now. It took me a while to get it, but now… do you think everyone else will understand?"

"If they don't, everything we have built here will split apart at the seams. You stuck all of us in a pressure cooker and walked away from the stove."

Joan groaned and put her face in her hands.

"I'm sorry, but that's just the basic fact of the matter. You can't go back and change things. The only way out it forward."

"You're right. Let's do this." Joan stood up and Tam stood with her. Joan still wore the wrinkled jeans and T-shirt that she had worn the previously day, but it simply did not matter anymore. Every moment her people remained under the oppression of the rule she had set for them increased the likelihood that they would explode.

Joan and Tam walked into the huge dining hall where everyone was seated for lunch. Everyone was chatting and cracking jokes, but still there was something about the way they all held their bodies that seemed unnatural. Joan stood before all the residents of Rakitan Industries and waited silently.

Trevor noticed her presence first. He stopped talking mid-sentence and turned to stare at her. His conversation partner also turned his attention toward Joan. One-by-one, everyone else in the room stopped what they were doing to look at their disheveled leader with curiosity.

Joan cleared her throat, and the last of the people who were chattering stopped. "One of the hardest things for a leader to do is to admit she was wrong, yet today that is what I must do. As I am sure many of you are already aware, the rule I have put in place to protect you has done more harm than good. By forbidding you to have relationships, I have forced you to hide feelings you cannot deny. As a result, you have gone behind my back-and each other's backs-to express yourselves."

Practically every single pair of eyes present flitted around the room. Those whose eyes did not flit cast their heads down.

"I don't blame you," Joan continued, "I myself have bowed to the influences of temptation. Therefore, I can no longer expect you all to adhere to the old policy. I hereby release you to love anyone you want to love!"

The others were silent for a moment. It took several seconds for Joan's words to fully register in their minds. However, once they understood the message. They all jumped out of their seats and shouted for joy. Sean tackled Joan and kissed her full on the lips. Tulip was hugged simultaneously by Salt and Pepper while he kissed one, and then the other. Penguin smothered Pretty Pictures with kisses while everyone else grabbed the nearest person they found attractive. Seeing that Sean and Trevor were already occupied, Tam kissed a skinny boy named Grant who looked a little lost. As soon as she let go of him, Grant ran away and squeezed himself between Tulip and Pepper, clinging to the men as if his life depended on it.

Tam laughed to herself, and then turned toward the place where she had last seen Trevor. The pupils of her amber eyes dilated in happiness when she found his emerald eyes staring into hers. Without hesitation, she jumped onto him, throwing her arms around his shoulders and both legs around his hips. Trevor lost his balance and fell backwards onto the floor, but Tam managed to soften the blow for him by extending a hand to reduce the amount of potential energy converted into kinetic energy by the fall. Once they were on the floor, Tam kissed Trevor hungrily as she rocked her hips over his.

Suddenly, Tam felt herself lifted off of Trevor by a pair of incredibly strong, yet lean arms. She knew his touch instantly and felt as if she was flying into his embrace. She twisted around to face him and found her intuition about his identity confirmed. It _was_ Sean! Tam briefly wondered what had happened to Joan, but if felt so good to be with Sean that all of her worries disappeared.

Joan was off getting kissed by every guy who could get his hands on her whether it was a simple thank-you kiss or something more all the while trying to make her way back to Trevor. Trevor waited patiently for a while, but then a pretty brunette from the information team named Clarissa approached him, and he could not resist. He engaged in a sensuous, mind-blowing lip lock with her for several minutes until they both drew back panting. The girl smiled at him happily, and then moved on to steal a kiss from Penguin.

Trevor was still staring at Clarissa when Joan caught up with him. "So, are you feeling better about your sister now?" Joan asked.

Trevor looked around for Pretty Pictures and saw that she was standing a little away from everyone else, just watching. "Yeah, I guess. I think that this wasn't exactly what she had in mind when she wanted people to stop calling her a slut, but now that everything is out in the open, I don't think people will consider it such a dirty word anymore."

"Projection," Tam interjected. She had one arm around Sean's waist, and slipped the other around Trevor.

"Huh?" Joan asked.

"That's why everyone was calling Jessica a slut. Projection is a defense mechanism that people use when they are afraid to admit the truth about themselves. Jessica actually wasn't putting out as much as everyone else, so people started projecting their own insecurities onto her," Tam explained.

"Is that so?" Joan asked as she sidled up to Trevor's other side and put an arm around him.

Sean chucked, and Joan felt the vibrations of his laugh transfer through Tam and Trevor. "I prefer not to stick labels on the behavior of people," he said.

The others nodded silently. "Now that that's settled, let's get back to work. We have some evil corporations to dismantle!" Joan said.

**Closing Note: **Last week, I uploaded the first chapter of my Peach Girl story. Guess which OCs it stars! Anyway, please review!


	18. Agent Saunders

**Music Lover's Alert: **"Memories Fade" by Tears For Fears

**Chapter 18: Agent Saunders**

The electric blue eyes of Timothy Saunders snapped open. The sun had just set, and it was time for him to go to work. He sat up and touched an electronic panel beside his bed. Immediately, a flat-screen television lit up before him. It was the only light in the room.

A man black suit with darkened eyes who worked for Stellar Defense appeared on the screen and began to speak. The only clearly visible feature of the man's face was a pair of gleaming white cuspids that flashed as he spoke. "We have a special assignment for you tonight, Agent Saunders. We have identified an individual who seeks to undermine the integrity of our government, and we want you to eliminate her."

"Define 'eliminate,' sir," Timothy requested. His own brilliant white canines glistened in his mouth as he spoke.

"We want you to remove her from society. Bring the body back to us. Make it clean, but feel free to take her blood as long as you don't leave any evidence. We are not providing you with sustenance tonight, so you should have plenty of room. She will be easier to carry without her blood. Just don't spill any."

Agent Saunders stared at the screen in bewilderment. He had never before been asked to take someone out completely. The agency usually provided him with sustenance, and then sent him to patrol the streets looking for signs of mischief. "What did she do?" Timothy asked.

"Her name is Joan Black and we caught her trying to remove Industrial Illusions monitoring software from her computer."

A chill ran down Timothy's spine. Could this possibly be the same Joan he loved? She had expressed interest in removing the software from her laptop on the very day he first met her, but she was not stupid enough to try it on her own. She had been looking for an expert computer geek to do it for her. Plus, that wasn't her last name… unless she had gotten married.

The Stellar Defense employee continued, "We let her think that she succeeded, and she subsequently sent e-mails to her rebel friends. Unfortunately, her friends have actually succeeded in removing Industrial Illusions monitoring software and have made their e-mail accounts untraceable. Therefore, Ms. Black is useless to us now. Your task is to eliminate her before the other rebels can get to her and take her underground to work with them. Is that clear?"

Timothy steeled himself against the possibility that he might be forced to suck the woman he loved dry. He had tried to protect her by keeping his distance from her, but if it was her, then he would just have to do his duty to the government no matter what. Nightmares had prepared him for this moment, and the longer his heart cooled, the easier it became to bear those thoughts. "Yes, sir," he said coolly.

"Good. I am sending you her dossier now."

The image of the Stellar Defense employee flickered off the screen and the image of a sixteen year-old girl appeared in his place. She had dark brown eyes, but the computer noted that she liked to wear color contacts often. Her black hair was streaked with red and done up in a messy bun. However, this was another feature of hers that was subject to change. Timothy focused on her bone structure and permanent facial features instead. She had a tiny nose, thick scowling lips, and her eyes slanted upwards. _Definitely not my Joan_, Timothy thought. She also had piercings in unusual places. Even if she removed the jewelry, he would still be able to see the holes with his enhanced eyesight.

After memorizing Joan Black's dossier and her expected location for the evening, Agent Saunders stood and stretched his muscles. Although the government had given him many special powers, it still had not made him taller. Agent Saunders stood at a mere 162 cm, much shorter than the average government agent. However, his short stature was not the first feature people tended to notice when they met him. They were captivated by his electric blue eyes and his immaculately neat brown hair. His jaw was lean and handsome at the same time while the rest of his features were classically ordinary. He was in almost every sense of the word a perfect man, except for the fact that he was no longer a man. He had ceased to be a man the day he started working for the government.

Timothy Saunders dressed quickly in a set of simple blue jeans and a fitted black button-down shirt. He took no weapons other than the ones he already had in his body. The point was to blend in with the average human population anywhere he went. Agent Saunders then grabbed the keys to his black Porsche and hit the streets of Tokyo.

Joan Black was incredibly easy to track. Although she had tampered with her laptop, she had not thought to remove the GPS tracker that came standard with all Global Communications electronics from her cell phone. Timothy Saunders used his own government phone to trace her to a hip club, which apparently she had been able to enter with fake ID.

Agent Saunders discreetly flashed his government badge at the bouncer and was immediately let into the club. He then slipped through masses of pulsating, scantily clad flesh looking for his mark. As he searched, he became aware that his thirst was growing more powerful by the second. If he did not find Joan soon, he knew he would have to feed on an innocent club patron.

Timothy found the girl at last. She was wearing a black tank top and rocking out to the music. She wore a hairstyle that was very similar to the one in her dossier and her upper lip contained a metal rod. She wore exotic fuschia contacts that stood out sharply against her black eye makeup.

Not wasting any time, Timothy Saunders swiftly got behind her and started running his hands over her tight jeans and stomach. With all of the heat on the dance floor, his cool touch felt refreshing to her. She responded well, grinding her buttocks into his pelvis. Timothy glanced around to see if anyone was looking, and saw that everybody was too absorbed in their own dancing to pay attention to what appeared to be a young couple. Plus, the darkness of the dance floor was broken only by strobe light.

Timothy kissed the girl's neck slowly until he found the right spot to satisfy his cravings. Then, he clamped his hands tightly around her and punctured her jugular vein with a single tooth. She screamed in pain, but nobody could hear her above the music and the excited, happy screams of other club goers. Timothy pressed his lips over the wound and sucked up the warm, syrupy fluid that gushed out of her. She thrashed and struggled for a few seconds while he drained her, but she could not break free. Her resistance grew weaker as her blood flow slowed to a trickle and finally stopped.

Once she was completely limp, Timothy draped one of her arms around his shoulder and dragged her out of the club. The bouncer noticed that Timothy was leaving with someone whom he had not brought into the club, but did not stop him. To the club's patrons, who had not paid any special attention to him when he first arrived, it appeared that he was simply taking home a drunk girlfriend. A few of them shook their heads in disapproval at the girl's state of unconsciousness, but otherwise left him alone.

Timothy hoisted Joan Black's limp body into the back seat of his Porsche as easily as if she was a rag doll. He looked down on her for a moment, expecting to feel remorse or guilt or something. Instead, he simply felt full; not satisfied or unsatisfied, but just full. Her blood was richer and fresher than the stuff he usually received from the agency, and Timothy felt he could get used to routinely eliminating government threats like her. Without a second thought, he got into the driver's seat of his car and brought her body back to his boss to prove that he had completed his mission.

**Closing Note: **I made a virtual avatar of Joan Black with Doll Divine. You can find her on my Facebook writer page along with other surprises. Be warned, though. There are some spoilers there as well.


	19. Labor

**Music Lover's Alert: **If you want background music, I recommend "Beautiful Things" by Andain.

**Chapter 19 Labor**

Seto Kaiba was in the middle of a meeting with his staff when his cell phone jingled with a familiar, cheerful melody that he had assigned to only one person: Mokuba. It had been years since Mokuba had called him during business hours, and the last time it had happened, Mokuba had been in serious danger.

Seto stopped talking mid-sentence and whipped his phone out of a holder on one of his belts. "What's wrong?" he said immediately after he placed it to his ear.

"Nothing is wrong. In fact, things are great. It's Serenity. She is going into labor," Mokuba said.

"That's all?"

"Um, yeah. I thought you might want to be there when your daughter is born."

"You take her to the hospital. I'll head there after work."

"But Seto, you might miss it!"

"Labor usually lasts several hours, right?"

"Usually…"

"Good. I don't have time to stand around in a hospital right now." With that, Seto ended the call and turned back to his staff.

The Kaiba Corporation employees looked at each other uneasily. With a boss who wouldn't take time off work to watch his own child being born, they knew they could not afford to make any mistakes. Seto Kaiba glared at them with his cold blue eyes, and they instantly snapped to attention. The CEO continued speaking exactly where he left off before the call came in, and his staff members strained their brains to remember the first part of his sentence.

The rest of the meeting ran smoothly without any hitches. Everything proceeded so efficiently that the meeting was over in half the time it normally took.

As soon as the meeting was over, Seto summoned his limo driver to meet him at the front of the building. Even though he would never admit it in front of his employees, his whole body tingled with excitement when he thought about seeing his daughter for the first time. However, he also had several other thoughts on his mind. Ever since the corporate oligarchy came into power, his company had been struggling to stay on top of the game. Although he had a small amount of say in political decision, his influence paled in comparison to the big boys: Global Enterprises, Stellar Defense, Kalvin Clein, Pattel Corporation, and Industrial Illusions. Wherever he went, thoughts of his competitors plagued him.

Seto approached the main desk in the maternity ward of Kobe Hospital and stated, "Serenity Kaiba."

"Relation?" the girl behind the counter asked.

"Husband."

The girl fumbled with some papers until she found the one she needed. "She already checked in with-"

"-My brother. I know," Seto said impatiently.

The girl made a few pen strikes on the paper in front of her. "Oh. I thought…"

"You thought _what_?" Seto said with even more impatience in his voice.

"Never mind. It's just that we've never seen you here before. Serenity talks about you all the time. Good things. I'm sure she's expecting you. Go right on in," the girl said quickly. A little drop of sweat appeared on her forehead as she spoke, and her cheeks reddened.

Seto grumbled something about incompetence and walked away from the counter. Then, he realized that she had forgotten to give him Serenity's room number. Instead of going back to ask her, he poked his head into every room he passed until he found her. She was difficult to see at first because she had about ten other nurses buzzing around her, but Seto instantly recognized Mokuba sitting beside her holding her hand.

Seto barged into the room and grabbed one of the nurses by the collar of her uniform. "Why are there so many of you in here? Is there something wrong?"

"N-no sir! We're off-duty," the nurse stuttered.

"It's OK Seto. They're my friends," Serenity panted between contractions.

Seto let go of the nurse, but the damage had already been done. All of the nurses except the one who had been assigned to monitor Serenity filed out of the room as quickly as possible. Mokuba squeezed Serenity's hand and left also, giving Seto and Serenity a fair amount of privacy. Seto approached Serenity and tried to kiss her, but another contraction ravaged her body at that very moment and her mouth opened wide in a scream.

Serenity became overwrought with pain and started spouting a string of incoherent words at Seto. However, a few phrases came out clearly: "You almost abandoned me… You'll abandon our daughter… Joey was right about you… I should have married Mokuba!"

Seto was so shocked at this last phrase that he did not know how to respond. He looked up at the only other nurse left in the room with his mouth hanging wide open.

"Don't worry. The pain makes many birthing mothers delirious. She'll forget she ever said that when this is all over. She probably didn't mean it anyway," the nurse said in a soothing tone.

"Probably?" Seto asked.

The nurse's reply was drowned out by another round of screaming from Serenity. Then, the nurse took a look at her cervix and started yelling, "Push!"

Serenity strained with all her might until finally the child popped out of her. The nurse summoned a doctor to help her get the baby cleaned up and recorded her Apgar score.

…..

Meanwhile, out in the waiting room, Mokuba found himself surrounded by attractive nurses. "We didn't know Serenity had such a cute brother-in-law," one said.

"Why didn't she pick you instead of that stiff jerk?" another one cooed.

"Um… she… I don't know," Mokuba said with a gulp. While he was flattered to be receiving so much attention from so many beautiful females, they were getting uncomfortably close.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" two of them asked at once.

"No."

Immediately, all of the nurses started talking at once. They thrust pieces of paper with their phone numbers at him and grabbed hold of his muscular arms. Mokuba tried to make sense of what they were saying, but he only caught little snippets of their monologues. Mokuba nodded his head and smiled for a few minutes, but in the end he could not make heads or tails of anything that was said to him.

Mokuba tried to excuse himself, but the girls only grew more persistent. He attempted to wiggle out of his chair, but the nurses only restrained him further. At last, when he felt he had no other options, he started yelling, "Serenity!" at the top of his lungs.

Seto and Serenity came out of the hospital room with their baby daughter in their arms to see the commotion. When Serenity heard the way Mokuba was yelling her name, she was struck with an acute sense of déjà vu.

"Ladies! Give him some space!" Serenity said sharply.

The nurses backed away from Mokuba sheepishly. Mokuba looked up at his brother and sister-in-law with grateful violet eyes. His long black hair was completely disheveled and his clothes were torn in a few places.

"It looks like _you_ had a good time," Seto said with a smirk.

Serenity thrust her daughter into Seto's hands. "How would _you_ like to be surrounded by a bunch of crazed single women who thought you were single?"

Seto's eyes danced with blue electricity.

"You know what? Don't answer that now. I'll deal with you later. Mokuba, are you all right?" Serenity said as she knelt down beside Mokuba. She gently examined his skin for any cuts or abrasions, cupping his face in her hands and turning it from side to side.

"I'm fine," Mokuba told her, "Let's get out of here."

Something in Seto's gut stirred when he remembered the words Serenity yelled during labor, but he also remembered what the nurse in the room had said. Serenity helped Mokuba to his feet while Seto stared down at the little girl in his arms. She had the most adorable bright blue eyes he had ever seen. _Definitely his_. It felt strangely comforting to hold her in his arms. Her purity and innocence reminded him of the first time his wife had spoken to him.

"What's her name?" Mokuba asked.

Seto was so captivated by his daughter's tiny face that he didn't notice Mokuba sneaking up beside him to take a peek, too. "Janet," Seto said more to himself than to Mokuba.

"Let's take her home," Serenity said softly.

The family of four left the chaos of the hospital behind in favor of the peace of their home.

**Closing Note: **Serenity's déjà vu refers to a specific chapter in "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy." Let's see how many of you can remember which one. I'll grant prizes to the winners! This means a oneshot or any other special request you would like to make that is within my power to grant.


	20. Wicked Game

**Music Lover's Alert: **If you enjoy listening to music while you read, I recommend "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak. I also could not think of a good name for the chapter, so that's what I'm using!

**Chapter 20 Wicked Game**

-Three months after Janet's birth-

Serenity wandered into the main TV room of the Kaiba mansion with Janet in her arms and a sigh on her lips.

"Still no Seto?" Mokuba asked.

"Yeah," Serenity said with numbness in her voice. "Can you hold her for a minute?"

Mokuba nodded and took his tiny niece into his arms. Her perfect little blue eyes reminded him of Seto before he took over Kaiba Corporation and became a ruthless businessman. Mokuba smiled at Janet and she smiled back. "Hey! I think she likes me!" Mokuba looked up and saw that Serenity had taken off her shirt and now wore a funny bra with a removable strip of fabric covering each breast.

"Of course she likes you! You're the sweetest man in the world." _Oops! _Serenity thought, _I should not have said that. It's true, though._

Mokuba sighed and handed Janet back to Serenity. "If that's so, why can't I find a sweet girl like you? Do they all think I'm gay or something?"

Serenity released a clasp on her bra and presented a succulent pink nipple to Janet. "Well, all of my co-workers thought you were my husband until Seto showed up at the hospital. Then, they were all over you. What happened with them, anyway?"

"They could not agree on who saw me first, so they made a pact not to date me in the end."

"That's odd."

"Tell me about it. I was hoping that I could date all of them and see who I was most compatible with, but apparently that would compromise their sisterhood or something."

Serenity stared into space thoughtfully for a moment while Janet sucked her teat. "You know, I've always been on good terms with the other girls at work, but something about being married sets me apart from them. They never ask me to go shopping or otherwise socialize with them after work. I think I probably know less about single women than you do."

Mokuba chucked a little. "Come _on_! There has to be some secret, profound insight you can offer me about all this. Think back to when you were first dating Seto."

Serenity leaned back and closed her eyes. Memories poured though her head as she tried to think of some advice for Mokuba. There wasn't much she could offer, but one thing stuck out in her mind. "Mai told me that you need to let go of the past and move forward, but Tea told me that you should always give someone a second chance."

"Who was right?" Mokuba asked, confusion creasing his brow.

"I followed Mai's advice at first. That's how I got over Tristan and fell in love with Seto, but now I'm starting to wonder. With Seto gone all the time…" Serenity tried several times to finish her sentence, but every time she opened her mouth to speak, she swallowed her words right back inside. Her emotions built up so much inside her that her milk became sour. Janet let go of her nipple and let out a wail of despair. Shocked, Serenity stared down at her daughter as if she had grown a second head. She let her breast hang free, oblivious to her surroundings.

Mokuba came up beside the girls and wrapped his arms around both of them. His touch seemed to soothe Janet, but as soon as the little one was quiet, Serenity started to cry.

Mokuba made soothing noises and spoke softly. " I'm sure Seto will get some more time off work soon. He's just going through some tough times with the company."

Serenity sniffled. "No. I got fat and he doesn't want to be with me anymore."

"That's ridiculous! You've already lost most of your baby weight by breast feeding. You'll be back to normal in another month or two."

Serenity sniffled again. "You noticed?"

"Of course I noticed! Serenity, you are the most beautiful woman I know. Even-no, especially-when you were pregnant, you were still prettier than anyone else I've ever dated." Mokuba kissed the outside corner of her eye and tasted salt from her tears.

"You really mean that?" Serenity asked.

"Yes."

Before he knew what was happening, Serenity had turned towards him and pressed her lips into his. He had dreamed of this moment since he was thirteen, but he had given up on that dream when his brother proposed to Serenity. Now, he wasn't sure whether he was asleep or awake. Figuring that he must be asleep and that his actions would have no consequences, he kissed her back with the passion he had kept bottled up inside over the years.

When they at last pulled away from each other, Mokuba said, "I love you, Serenity. I always have and I always will."

Serenity smiled, and the child in her lap smiled as well. "Will you take care of me and Janet no matter what happens?"

"Of course I will."

"Oh Mokuba! Why didn't I just marry you in the first place?" Serenity said, her olivine eyes glistening.

That statement snapped Mokuba back into reality. "My brother-I could never do anything to hurt him. He loves you. He really does." Mokuba felt that he was on the verge of insanity. How could he have let his guard down like that?

"I love him, too. I just don't know if he wants me anymore," Serenity said, her spirit falling once again.

"Of course he still wants you. Seto doesn't just change his mind like that. He's _loyal_. Look, I'm sorry. I've just made things worse."

Serenity dropped her head to her daughter's tiny forehead. Her long auburn hair covered her face like a curtain. "I'm so confused!"

"I just want to see you happy, Serenity. If it helps, just forget what happened here. Seto will be back soon. Things can go back to normal," Mokuba found himself blubbering helplessly.

"But Mokuba, I've fallen for you. I can't forget. Every time I see you from now on, it's going to be different."

"I could move out," Mokuba whispered.

Serenity jerked her head up and looked him in the eye. "No!" Stay here. I'll love you whenever Seto is gone and love him whenever he is here. That would be OK, wouldn't it?"

"I don't know. I suppose we could try it."

Serenity leaned towards Mokuba and kissed him again. This time, the kiss was tentative and exploratory. Mokuba returned the kiss slowly and consciously, memorizing the feeling of her lips against his in case he never got another opportunity to touch them. His heart pounded rapidly as if he was in high school again and he had just learned that she was willing to study with him.

The two of them caressed each other for a long time, carefully balancing Janet between them. They eventually settled into a comfortable position on the spacious white leather couch and tried to sleep. Janet, being the baby that she was, quite literally slept like a baby. However, Mokuba and Serenity merely pretended to be asleep while their minds raced with worries and fears.

Sometime before dawn, they heard Seto enter the room. It was unmistakably his footsteps, his scent, and his breath. Mokuba and Serenity froze solid, unsure of what else to do. Janet seemed completely undisturbed by the arrival of her father. Seto planted a kiss on each of them and then left the room as quietly as possible. Mokuba and Serenity remained motionlessly awake for the rest of the night, each contemplating what they would say to him when they next saw him.


	21. Stamp

**Chapter 21 Stamp**

Joan sat at the great round table at Rakitan Industries with all of the team leaders. Although some considered them boring, these meetings were vital for keeping the different departments in communication and ensuring that their efforts were properly coordinated. Jamie, the head of the new technology team, held up a small rectangular device that fit easily in his hand. His anthracite eyes shone like the glossy enamel on the box.

"What does it do?" Joan asked.

"It functions just like a self-inking stamp, but with a twist."

Jamie placed a piece of sample plastic before him, put the rectangular object over it, and punched down on it. Then, he held up the piece of plastic for all to see. It said, "Pattel Corp." in bold, black letters.

"How will this help us?" Joan asked.

"There is a secondary stamp in here that is not visible to the naked eye at first. It injects a special chemical into the plastic that slowly eats it away. Over the course of a few weeks, the chemical converts the plastic into a powder that disintegrates on contact with the oil on human fingertips. Therefore, when a kid opens the package and starts fooling around with the toy, our message will appear," Jamie explained.

"So, do we need to wait a few weeks to find out if this actually works?"

Jamie placed another piece of plastic identical to the first one on the table and slid it to Joan. "We already have. See for yourself."

Joan picked up the piece of plastic and ran her fingers over the black lettering. A powdery white residue stuck to her fingers. She rubbed her fingers together, and the stuff disappeared. Then, she examined the plastic again. There were some grooves in it where her fingers had touched it, but it appeared to be random. She ran her fingers over it a few more times until the message, "Made in China by children like you forced into slave labor," appeared.

Joan looked up at the other people seated around the table. "How do we know that consumers will actually get the message and not just overlook it?"

Tulip straightened his glasses. "Children tend to put their fingers _all over_ new toys, and they are more likely to read the fine print and ask questions about it. This will not fall on deaf ears."

Penguin chimed in, "All we need is one person, to talk, and then everyone will notice. It will be like spreading a rumor, only people can confirm it by checking the Christmas presents they gave their kids."

"OK. That makes sense. So, how are we going to get every Pattel product stamped before Christmas?" Joan wondered.

"Leave that to me and my team," Sean said, "We've already studied the schematics of Pattel's largest factory. The others are very similar. All we need to do is to get to the point in the assembly line where a child usually puts a sticker on the product and put our stamp there instead."

"How will the child know what to do with the stamp?"

"We'll tell them."

"I thought this was supposed to be a stealth operation."

"It is. We are going to pose as representatives from Pattel headquarters and walk right in. We are going to go right through the guards rather than around them."

"So, why bother to study the factory layout?"

"Two reasons: First, we should appear to know where we are going. Second, we should know how to get out quickly in case our true purpose is discovered," Sean replied confidently.

"Are you sure you can pull this off?" Joan asked.

"Yes. The stamp will be passed off as a money-saving technique and we will tell the factory that they will never need to order stickers again."

"You really think they'll buy that?"

"Of course," Sean answered.

"What I meant was: how long will it take Pattel Corporation to realize that their factories are no longer ordering stickers and figure out our plans?"

The room was silent for a few moments.

Then, Tulip spoke slowly. "They'll have to find out eventually, but if we want to stall them a bit, we'll put together another fake corporation. This time, it will be one that sells stamps and it won't have an address like Rakitan Industries does. Somewhere, we'll hack into Pattel's system and claim that one of their employees made the decision to switch to using stamps. We will do a crappy job setting up the second fake corporation so that when they do connect the dots, they will underestimate our abilities as hackers. As for the employee, we'll do a much more careful job with him."

"Won't that look bad on the employee when the shit hits the fan?" Joan questioned.

Everyone except Penguin looked down. "It's either them or us. We can't let one person's career stand in the way of justice," the woman with bleached blond hair said boldly.

"True," Joan admitted reluctantly, "I just don't think it's fair to subject someone to investigation when he'll just lead them to a dead end. He could be imprisoned or tortured for information when he has nothing to give."

"That's their problem, but it should still be clear that someone had some motivation behind this fiasco. I don't want Mr. Pattel claiming that this was nothing more than an accident on Global Television," Penguin clarified.

"Are you willing to take responsibility for it all on your own?"

Penguin tossed her radiant platinum blond hair. She lived for attention, especially when it involved a certain element of risk. "Absolutely."

"Good. Let's get moving then," Joan said.

The meeting broke, and the ream leaders went their separate ways. Everyone was relieved that the meeting was over and anxious to get started on their tasks.


	22. Busy 2

**Music Lover's Alert: **If you like to listen to music while you read, I recommend "True Colors" by Phil Collins and "California" by Savage Garden just to set the mood.

**Chapter 22 Busy**

Seto was already in the dining room with his laptop and his breakfast in front of him when Mokuba, Serenity, and Janet entered. They took a seat and served themselves from the bounty in the middle of the table while Seto remained glued to his computer screen reading an important document. Serenity clutched Janet tightly with one hand as she forced a few spoonfuls of oatmeal into her mouth. Mokuba took a plate full of various items and pushed them around with his fork like a painter trying to blend several colors into the perfect hue.

Seto typed rapidly on his keyboard for about five minutes, then grunted and looked up. "Hey sleepyheads," he said with a lighthearted fondness. Despite all the stress of managing Kaiba Corporation, his icy blue eyes turned warm when he looked upon his family.

Serenity swallowed hard and returned his greeting by mimicking his tone of voice as closely as she could.

Mokuba avoided answering by yawning.

"How late were you up?" Seto asked.

"How late were _you_ up?" Mokuba said in a sassy tone.

"I stayed up as late as I needed to stay up to keep the company afloat," Seto replied sternly.

"Seto?" Serenity asked timidly.

"What?"

"Do you think we could spend some more time together? I hardly get to see you these days."

"I'll have my secretary look into it," Seto said absently.

Serenity stared at him with her big, olivine doe eyes, but Seto wasn't even looking at her anymore. He had already gone back to his computer. Serenity shifted her gaze to Mokuba. Mokuba looked at her for a moment, but then returned to playing with his food. There was simply nothing else worth saying while Seto was absorbed with his work.

Seto shoveled the last bite of his breakfast into his mouth and chewed it quickly. Then, he drained his coffee cup. He plunked the cup down on the table and closed his laptop in one continuous motion. Then, he stood and tucked the laptop under his arm. He walked over to Serenity and gave her a quick peck on the lips followed by a peck on the forehead for Janet. Then, he nodded at Mokuba and said, "Take care of my girls."

"I will," Mokuba responded automatically.

Then, Seto was gone. Mokuba and Serenity looked at each other uneasily.

"Do you think he really meant that in _every_ sense?" Serenity wondered.

"I wish I knew. Either way, I _will_ take care of you in any sense you desire," Mokuba assured her.

Mokuba's words made Serenity purr, and she shifted to a chair beside him. She held Janet to her bosom and laid her head on his shoulder. "Mokuba, I'm so lucky to have you in my life. It baffles me why no other woman ever fully appreciated you."

"It baffles me why Seto is not appreciating you at this very moment."

"Maybe he's seeing someone else," Serenity whispered.

"Don't say that! Of course he's not."

She glanced up at him, and her olivine eyes connected with his violet ones. "Why not? I'm seeing you."

"Is that really the right term to use? I love you, Serenity, but I decided a long time ago that I would never get in-between you and Seto. Besides, I'm still looking for someone else to love."

"Are you saying that you would leave me for some other girl?" Serenity's eyes brimmed with tears. In that moment, she felt more fragile than she felt confused. If two men would leave her, what good was she to anyone?

"I don't know what I'm saying. I want someone to love, and I love you. It's just that Seto loves you, too. I know he does, so I should really keep looking for someone else. Otherwise, my heart is always open to you. Always."

Serenity balanced Janet between them and wrapped her arms all the way around Mokuba. She put her ear to his chest and listened to his heartbeat. She let herself be comforted by its steady rhythm until she found the strength necessary to face the rest of the day.

Serenity kissed him and thanked him, and then picked up Janet and got ready for her shift at the hospital. Her maternity leave was over, but there was an excellent daycare right in the hospital facility for the nurses who worked there. What she did not know was that most workplaces did not have such excellent facilities, and that Seto had asked his secretary to bribe the hospital to provide better care for his daughter.

At the daycare, Janet received the most attention and stimulation. Certified childcare specialists fed her with the breast milk Serenity pumped on short breaks during her shift. They gave her large alphabet letters to play with and played classical music constantly. Although Janet was still too young to understand any of it, her time there primed her brain for rapid development.

**Closing Note: **Please review! Oh, and guess what Janet's first words are going to be.


	23. Christmas Morning

**Author's Note: **This is the first time our Yu-Gi-Oh! characters recognize the existence of the OCs.

**Music Lover's Alert: **If you enjoy listening to music while you read, I recommend "How Deep is Your Love" by the Bee Gees followed by "The First Noel."

**Warnings: **Lemon!

**Chapter 23 Christmas Morning**

It was Christmas Day and Seto Kaiba was still working. He had stayed at home long enough to open presents with his family, but then left. A framed photograph of Serenity, Janet, and Mokuba now sat on his desk beside the one of Mokuba as a little boy and his wedding picture with Serenity. Since Seto already had everything else, most of the gifts that Mokuba and Serenity gave him were sentimental items such as a plaster casting of Janet's tiny hand and some trinkets from Mokuba. The photograph was the only thing that Seto felt he could take to work and keep on his desk, but he greatly appreciated their gestures. If only he had more time.

Seto did not have time to pick out gifts for his family, so he let his secretary come up with several suggestions and then simply signed a few papers to approve the purchases. He gave Serenity several gift cards for massages and spa treatments along with some diamond earrings. It was essentially just a compilation of items that every CEO's wife must have. Serenity pretended to be excited, but all she really wanted was to spend more time with her husband.

Ms. Brown also picked gifts for Janet and Mokuba. Mokuba got a bunch of rare cards and some gadgets that would supposedly help him ace his college courses. Mokuba was doing fine in his classes, and he seriously doubted that expensive tricks would do anything for him other than waste his time. However, he still put on a good face and thanked Seto. Janet got a bunch of videos that were supposed to help children learn faster and some strange apparatuses to help her develop her motor skills. She also got a certificate for her trust fund, which she wanted to put in her mouth, but Serenity took it away from her to keep it in a safe place.

Although the presents from Seto weren't exactly thoughtful, Serenity and Mokuba appreciated the fact that he stayed at home long enough to watch them unwrap the gifts.

After Seto left for work, Serenity took Janet upstairs to her crib and installed a new mobile over it with Mokuba's help. Then, she leaned over the crib with a wistful sigh as she watched Janet reach out toward the dangling sun and planets. Mokuba came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed the side of her neck softly.

"Do you know how long it has been since I made love to Seto?" Serenity asked.

"No," Mokuba replied cautiously.

"Neither do I."

They were both silent for a moment

"Maybe I was too harsh on him. Maybe I should have been less dominant. I thought that stuff excited him, but maybe I was wrong," Serenity speculated.

"You realize I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Oh. Maybe I shouldn't be telling you this, but-"

"-Then don't. I don't need to know what happened between you and Seto. That's private. All I need to know is what is going to happen between you and me. I want you, Serenity." Mokuba kissed Serenity's neck again, this time working his way up to her ear. He latched onto her earlobe and sucked gently.

Serenity arched her back involuntarily and moaned. She never had a man make her feel quite like this before. "Mokuba, I… I…"

Mokuba released her earlobe, but kept his arms around her. "Do you want me to stop?"

"Don't stop! Mokuba, I want you, too." Serenity spun around to face him and gripped his hips to reinforce her statement. She pulled his pelvis close to hers and rocked her hips seductively.

Mokuba had to blink a few times to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. "Come on, let's go to my room."

Hand-in-hand, they traversed the corridor to Mokuba's room. With Janet safe in her crib, the mansion's intercom would alert them if she needed anything. Mokuba's room was almost as large as the master bedroom, but the bed was a much more reasonable King rather than a Quadruple King.

Serenity eased back onto the bed, and Mokuba lay on top of her. He balanced his weight carefully so that he would not crush her delicate body, and opened a drawer by the side of the bed with one hand. He grabbed a handful of colorful square packages and presented them to her. "Do you have any preference?" he asked.

"I don't know. Seto and I never used condoms."

"Not even before you got married?" Mokuba asked in wonder.

Serenity blushed. "No. We never even saw each other naked before we got married."

Mokuba looked down at her with concern. "Are you sure you want to-"

"-Yes! Please, Mokuba! I can't stand waiting any longer." Serenity grabbed the buckle on Mokuba's belt and undid it with her nimble fingers. At the same time, she thrust her mouth up to his and aggressively seized his lower lip.

Surprised but pleased, Mokuba ran his hands along her body and slid off her clothes. He tossed her fancy nursing bra onto the floor and squeezed her bountiful breasts. A little milk squirted out of them and he lapped it up tenderly. Serenity did not seem to mind.

When Serenity got Mokuba's cock into her hands, she gasped in amazement. "It's huge!"

"It's only fifteen centimeters, but thanks."

Serenity rubbed it between her fingers enthusiastically while she kissed every piece of skin that she should reach.

Mokuba picked out a condom with spermicidal lubricant and carefully opened the package. He was not aware that frequently lactating women do not ovulate, so he wanted to take every precaution possible against getting her pregnant.

However, Serenity knew that the chances of getting pregnant with or without a condom in her current physical state were very slim. She continued to kiss him ravenously and stroked his manhood until Mokuba had to force her hand away to get the condom properly fitted over his manhood.

Serenity spread her legs wide in invitation and rubbed her sweet spot. Mokuba positioned himself carefully and entered her slowly. Serenity moaned as she stretched to accommodate him. It was not anywhere near as difficult as pushing out a baby, but it still took her some time to adjust.

When he was securely inside her, he began to thrust cautiously. Serenity grabbed his firm buttocks and aided him in his movements, indicating when she wanted him to go faster and when she wanted him to slow down. It felt so food being with a man who actually knew what he was doing. Serenity did not know how he got to be so good, and she did not bother to ask. Mokuba's college hookups were his own business.

When they were both too tired to go any longer. Mokuba pulled out and lay beside her. He stroked her body gently, running his fingers over the curves of her breasts and hips.

Then, a bright light on the intercom flashed. Serenity bolted out of bed and slipped on her skirt.

"What happened?" Mokuba asked.

"Janet is hungry. I should not have left her alone this long." Without bothering to put on her panties, bra or blouse, Serenity slipped out of Mokuba's room and made her way to the nursery. All of the servants except for a security guard had the day off, and Serenity had stopped worrying about him long ago. He just stayed in his box and never talked to anyone unless he was contacted directly of there was an imminent threat to their safety. _I'm sure he's seen me naked before_, Serenity thought absently.

Puzzled as the security guard was by Serenity's nudity and her interactions with Mokuba, he decided to enjoy it rather than report it. His boss had already indicated to him once that he preferred not to be troubled by such nonsense, so he kept his mouth shut. He briefly toyed with the idea of selling his tapes to Global Communications, but ultimately decided that long-term job security was more important to him than a quick wad of cash that Seto Kaiba could probably sue out of his hands anyway. Therefore, he simply microwaved himself some popcorn and sat back to watch the show.

…..

Seto Kaiba was reviewing his company's latest financial reports when the phone on his desk rang. He picked it up and answered it with a simple, "yes?"

"Kaiba-boy! It's so good to know that I'm not the only gaming executive in the office today," gushed the smooth yet obnoxious voice of Maximillion Pegasus.

"What do you want, Pegasus?" Seto growled. He never forgave the white-haired CEO for abducting his little brother and trying to take over his company.

"I just thought you'd like to see what's on the news," Pegasus said innocently, "I figured you would find out sooner or later, but _I_ wanted to tell you _first_. It was quite a pleasant surprise to me when I first heard. Since we are both in essentially the same business, I thought you would feel the same."

"Spit it out already, Pegasus. I don't have all day."

"Well, If you're going to be rude about it, I think I'll let you find out for yourself," Pegasus pouted.

"I'll do that then. Bye," Seto said quickly and hung up the phone. He would rather have his fingernails pulled than listen to Pegasus say another word. Perhaps it was because Seto recognized some of his own arrogance in the other CEO that Seto despised him so much, but Seto also had a legitimate reason to hate him. Nobody hurt his little brother and got away with it, but somehow Pegasus did. Mokuba was much more forgiving and understanding of Pegasus than Seto, and somehow persuaded him not to beat Pegasus to a pulp. Seto would do anything for his little brother. _Anything_.

Although Seto tried to ignore the rival CEO's call, curiosity got the better of him. He turned on the television in his office and flipped to a Global Communications news channel.

A woman in her mid-thirties with chin-length brown hair, azure eyes, and a neat cream-colored suit stared into the camera. "Pattel Corporation stock prices continue to plummet in response to this seemingly harmless prank. Many outraged parents are calling for immediate cessation of all Pattel's factory operations until quote, 'some serious changes are made,' end quote. As of right now, Pattel is unable to be reached for comment on this fiasco.

"I'm Cheryl Gardner with Global Communications news. More when we come back," the reporter concluded.

Intrigued, Seto took a seat in front of the television and waited through the commercials. He had obviously turned on the television too late in the program to find out what really happened. However, from what he had heard so far, it was indeed the sensational story that Pegasus had cracked it up to be.

Cheryl Gardner came back on the air with the unnecessary and annoying introductions that all Global Communications reporters used, "Merry Christmas and welcome back to Global Communications news. This is the Cheryl Gardner show and I'm your host Cheryl Gardner. I'm very pleased to have you all listening today."

Her studio audience cheered. Seto rolled his eyes and silently begged for her to get to the important part.

"For those of you just joining us, thousands and perhaps millions of children in Japan and America have woken up this morning to find some very distressing information engraved in their toys. The message states, 'Made in China by children like you forced into slave labor.' As of right now, this message cannot be verified and Pattel Corporation executives have not released a public statement on the matter. However, we have received a recording from an anonymous group that appears to be associated with the incident. Roll tape."

A strikingly beautiful young woman with high cheekbones and bleached blond hair appeared on the television screen. She appeared at first to be another reporter, but her makeup was slightly more elaborate. She appeared to be more like a rich sorority girl who was simply playing the part of a reporter. She spoke with poise and confidence, but it was the raw, unrefined poise and confidence of someone on a crusade.

"Children, parents, and anyone else who is listening, I have a most serious matter to discuss with you. For the past few years we have enjoyed a state of world peace, but that peace has come at a cost. Now that corporations run the planet, they can choose to hide information from us in order to sell well-off individuals more goods at slightly lower prices while they exploit people who cannot fend for themselves to provide these goods at practically no cost to the company. This practice is no better than stealing."

_I wonder who trained that poodle to bark words_, Seto mused.

"Now that you know what is really happening, I urge you to stand up and protect the rights of the innocent. I am not asking you to march or protest like your friends did in the past. That would simply be condemning you to suffer their same fate. However, you can make a difference by boycotting all Pattel products until Pattel changes its business practices. Now, in the spirit of Christmas, we invite you to join us in singing this classic carol with a twist."

The camera zoomed out to show three other individuals. Two of them were young men and one of them was a young woman. They all appeared to be in their early twenties; approximately the same age as the speaker. Together, they made a full quartet. Some music began to play, and the singers proudly belted out their song:

_The first bad sell old Pattel did say_

_Was to certain poor children in China they slave_

_In shops where they sweated all of their lives_

_And Old Pattel the only one who thrives_

_Oh well, Oh well, Oh well, Oh well_

_Bored is the thing that loves to sell_

_The children yearned to be free_

_Just like the rich kids across the sea_

_But nobody heard their feeble cry_

_And so they continued to supply_

_Oh well, Oh well, Oh well, Oh well_

_Old Pattel kept them all under his spell_

_Until one day of fair Christmas light_

_Consumers discovered an unlikely sight_

_Right there on their goods, the truth was found _

_and no longer was this fact in the background_

_Oh well, Oh well, Oh well, Oh well_

_Out is the thing he tried not to tell_

_This simple fact began a boycott_

_And all Pattel's good began to rot_

_Now he must decide whether to pay_

_His workers fair wages on every workday_

_Oh well, Oh well, Oh well, Oh well_

_In his decision he must not dwell_

Seto chucked and turned off the television. Normally this sort of lame parody singing did not appeal to him, but with Pattel he had to admit that the bastard had it coming. After months of trying to figure out how to compete with Pattel Corporation's brutally unfair tactics, Seto was relieved that someone else had blown the whistle on them. Had he tried to reveal the secret Pattel kept from the public on his own, Seto would have had to deal with fallout from Bakura, Jones, Schroeder, and all the other major CEOs in the oligarchy. Luckily, those kids who appeared on the news had done all the work for him.

Seto casually hummed "The First Noel" to himself while he sat back down in front of his computer. He checked Pattel's stock price online and found that it was still falling. Then, he shut down his computer, slung his white trench coat over his shoulders, and walked merrily out of his office.

Seto had been generous enough to let his secretary, his driver, and most of his other staff members have Christmas off, only keeping a skeleton staff. He did it mainly because of his wife. She did not seem to mind _him_ working on Christmas, but anytime he mentioned that one of his employees might be commissioned to work on a holiday, she pouted and said it would not be fair to force _other people_ to work on a holiday. At least, that's what she communicated to him. Seto smiled as he thought about her soft olivine eyes and luscious lips. He would give her the sun and the moon if they were for sale. He could not wait to surprise her by coming home early.

Seto got into his red sports car, and the engine roared to life. He had grown so accustomed to riding in his electric limo that the sound made him shiver a bit-or maybe that was just the cold air. Seto turned on the heater full blast and headed home to see his wife, daughter, and brother.

When Seto got in the door, he noticed a light blinking on the intercom. He vaguely remembered Serenity telling him that the intercom was programmed to alert them to Janet's needs, so he decided to investigate the nursery. Figuring that it would be as good a place as any to surprise Serenity, Seto climbed the stairs and made his way to the nursery. By the time he got there, the intercom was beeping impatiently at him.

Seto found Janet in her crib crying heartily. Her little fingers stretched into the air when she saw Seto and a little light danced in her electric blue eyes. Seto picked her up and held her close to him. That calmed her temporarily as she rooted around his chest trying to find a nipple. However, all she found was smooth black silk.

"Seto! When did you get home?" came Serenity's voice from the doorway.

Seto turned and saw his wife's bulging breasts in front of him. Her olivine eyes were wide and a crimson blush covered her cheeks. She was wearing nothing but a festive holiday skirt. "Hello beautiful," Seto said with a smirk, "Were you masturbating again? Thinking about me?"

Serenity blushed harder and played with a lock of her long auburn hair. It felt not quite as smooth as usual, and she wondered how it looked. "Um… yeah." It wasn't quite a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth, either. She had been masturbating Mokuba, and then they did more. Serenity was not quite ready to tell Seto what else had happened while he was gone.

When Janet failed to find a satisfactory nipple on her father's chest, she cried once again. "I think she wants you," Seto said. His smirk broadened and transformed into a warm, genuine smile.

Serenity could not help but smile back. Maybe Mokuba was right when he said that things would go back to normal as soon as Seto dealt with all of the pressing matters at work. Serenity took Janet gently out of Seto's arms and sat down in a chair to nurse her. Seto sat beside them, extended his arms around both of them, and kissed Serenity on the forehead.

"I missed you," Serenity said sincerely, "did you get everything at Kaiba Corp. worked out?"

"Things seem to have worked themselves out for now."

"For now?" Serenity asked, sounding worried. She did not know if she could take losing him again.

"Have you seen the news?" Seto said instead of answering her question.

"No."

Seto rubbed his hand on his chin thoughtfully, "We never bought any Pattel products, did we?"

"Of course not. Mokuba told me that Pattel Corporation used dangerous chemicals and didn't pay its employees properly, so we never bought a single item from them. Besides, they're your biggest competitor. Buying something from them would be like… um… wrong."

Seto let out a short laugh. "Don't be ridiculous, Serenity. If you ever find that one of my competitors makes a better product than me, you're welcome to buy it. Of course, that will never happen," he added arrogantly.

Serenity giggled nervously and re-secured her grip on Janet.

Mokuba poked his head into the room. "Serenity, can I get you anyth-Oh! Hi Seto!"

"Hi Mokuba. Come on in. I was just about to tell Serenity about what happened to Pattel Corporation and I don't like repeating myself, so take a seat."

Mokuba entered the room slowly and tried not to look at Serenity. Unlike her, he had taken the time to put all of his clothes back on. He sat down beside Seto cautiously in a brightly colored plastic chair. "OK. What happened to Pattel Corporation?" he said as casually as he could muster. He hoped that Seto would not notice the shaking in his voice.

"Some kids found out what they were up to and blew the whistle on them. I don't know how they managed to pull it off, but they engraved a message in every single Pattel toy out there. Then, everyone discovered it when they opened their Christmas presents this morning. What I can't figure out is how Pattel let something like that slip by him. He probably has some pretty lousy quality control personnel," Seto mused.

"You say that kids did this? Did they get caught? How old were they?" Mokuba wondered.

"Slow down, little brother. Pattel and his goons are probably searching for the people who did this, but as far as I know they have not been apprehended. However, some kids about your age appeared on a recording and claimed to have some involvement in the stunt. They sang a Christmas carol, too. Quite amusing."

"Kids my age? Seto, I'm twenty one. So is Serenity," Mokuba added quietly.

Seto gave a tired sigh. "I'm sorry, Mokuba. I deal with so many old farts every day that I forget my own age sometimes. Many of my employees have children my age, but they know better than to treat _me_ like one of their kids."

Mokuba looked at Seto's clean-shaven face and tried to think of something he could say to lighten the mood. However, all he could think about was Serenity's bra still lying on the floor in his room. Mokuba's eyes darted to his sister-in-law and then back to Seto.

Serenity had finished nursing Janet, but continued to hold her in front of her bare breasts. Janet seemed quite content with this situation, and Seto did not seem to notice. "So, what does this all mean for Pattel?" she asked.

Seto perked up again. His electric blue eyes sizzled with new energy. "It means that people will start returning their toys to the stores tomorrow and buy Kaiba Corp. duel disks instead. Plus, Pattel's stock is already dropping rapidly even though the stock market is officially closed today. The company is headed for ruin!"

"Is there a chance that Pattel could get back on its feet?" Serenity wondered.

"Maybe, but they would have to actually treat their workers right this time. A company that pays fair wages is a lot easier to compete with than a company that does not."

Serenity shivered and held her daughter close. She was growing increasingly self-conscious of her bare torso. "If only Pattel had played fair from the start, none of this would have happened," she lamented more to herself than to Seto.

Seto stood up, swept his trench coat off his shoulders, and put it over Serenity's shoulders. "Come on, gorgeous. Let's go see how Pattel's stocks are faring now."

Serenity let Seto hold Janet while she wiggled her arms into the sleeves of the coat. It was far too big for her and she felt silly wearing it, but at the same time it was comforting. She wrapped it around her chest and used a belt to fasten it closed. Then, she stood up and took Janet back into her arms.

"Mokuba, are you coming?" Seto asked.

"In a minute. I think there's something I forgot to do."

"Suit yourself."

After Seto and Serenity went downstairs, Mokuba mad a mad dash to his room. He picked up Serenity's clothes off the floor and ran to the master bedroom. There, he paced around the room trying to figure out where to put them. He knew that Serenity masturbated. It was one of those "healthy things" that she had learned about when she was studying to be a nurse. However, he had no idea _how_ she usually went about doing it.

A thousand questions spun through Mokuba's head. Did she have any special props such as dildos or vibrators? Would she leave such things lying around the room after use? Did she toss her clothes on the floor, in the hamper, or fold them up neatly so that she could put them back on when she was done? What side of the bed did she use? Did she keep a towel handy, or was that just a guy thing? Did she keep magazines under her bed, or was that just a guy thing, too?

Mokuba took a peek under the bed and found nothing but a bunch of scented candles and a diary. Mokuba picked a candle that had already been lit and set it on a table beside the bed and tossed Serenity's clothes off to one side. He then thrashed around on the bed to mess up the comforters. Hopefully, that would be enough evidence that she had been masturbating. It would have to suffice in any case.

Mokuba took a deep breath and went downstairs. He found Seto and Serenity sitting in front of the television together with Janet between them. Janet seemed to be enjoying the difference in textures between Seto's black silk shirt and the leather trench coat on her mother. She grasped the fabric and giggled, squealing with delight when she let go of the material and it went back to its original shape.

There was more space beside Serenity than there was beside Seto, so Mokuba sat there and consciously kept his hands to himself. Everything suddenly felt so stiff and awkward. He wondered how long he would be able to pretend that nothing had happened between him and Serenity.

On the television screen, Pattel Corporation's stocks continued to drop. A man with a round face and beady eyes who all three Kaiba adults recognized as Mr. Pattel appeared on the television screen. A blonde wearing a gigantic fake smile stood by his side. She sported a cute Mrs. Clause outfit and lots of gaudy jewelry.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Mr. Pattel began, "It has come to my attention that certain allegations have been made about my company. First, let me assure you that I do not employ children in my factory. I do, however, use elves. Cynthia Clause will now explain how Pattel Corporation truly operates and why some people may have gotten the wrong idea about us."

"Hey Mokuba, isn't that the girl who humped you in your office a few years ago?" Seto teased.

"If it is… Oh my Ra! It _is_ her!" Mokuba said. The experience had not exactly been pleasant for him. All she wanted was his money, and all he wanted was to make Serenity jealous. Neither of them succeeded in their goals that day, but they each found different paths to their dreams.

The young woman began talking in a friendly voice geared towards little kids. "Santa Clause and I often do not have enough space at our workshop to make toys for all the little girls and boys around the world, so we came to Mr. Pattel for help. He let us use his factory and we send our elves down to work for him. They like China because the weather is nicer down there than at the North Pole.

"All of our elves are volunteers. None of them are forced to make toys. They simply like making little boys and girls happy."

Seto turned off the television. "Pattel is more pathetic than I thought. That little maneuver is going to keep parents from taking their presents back to the store tomorrow." Seto gritted his teeth. "This Santa bullshit that parents feed their children is ludicrous. Serenity, do me a favor and don't fill Janet's head with lies about the world."

Serenity nodded. While she found some enjoyment of Christmas traditions and would have liked to instill a belief in Santa Clause in Janet, it was not that important to her and she realized the importance of what Seto was saying. She herself had learned that there was no Santa Clause early in life. Since her family never had an abundance of money, but she was always on the nice list, it didn't take her long to figure out that some of her naughty rich classmates were getting more presents that she was. If a belief in Santa Clause would prevent social justice, she could not condone it.

Seto continued to brood. "I bet the stock prices are going to go back up now. Damn those peons!"

"Don't worry about it now," Serenity soothed, "It's out of your control. Let's just enjoy the holidays together."

"You're right. I've spent way too much time at the office lately. I've been a naughty boy and I need a good spanking," Seto said deviously.

Serenity hesitated. "You really want me to do that to you?"

Seto leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Of course I do. I _love_ being under your control."

Serenity blushed and giggled.

"Mokuba, could you watch Janet for an hour or three?" Seto said a little louder.

"Yeah. No problem," Mokuba agreed.

Seto handed his little girl to Mokuba, and then went upstairs with Serenity. Mokuba worried about what Seto would think when he saw his sorry attempt at simulating Serenity's masturbation. In order to calm his mind, he picked up one of Janet's new toys from under the Christmas tree and started playing with her.

**Closing Note: **Please review! I love feedback!


	24. Christmas Afternoon

**Music Lover's Alert: **Any suggestions?

**Warnings: **Lemon! Very mild BDSM… so mild it might not even count.

**Chapter 24 Christmas Afternoon**

When Seto got to his room and saw the mess that Mokuba had so thoughtfully created to help Serenity explain her state of undress, it barely registered in his mind. He was too busy drooling over how hot his wife looked in his white trench coat. With a belt strapped tightly around her waist, to hold it together at the front and the open collar of it dipping into her cleavage, she looked like a queen in his eyes.

Seto knelt down before her and kissed her hand. "My lady, I am yours to command."

Serenity still felt a little nervous, but decided to play along. Even though Seto had not noticed anything out of place, _she_ knew what Mokuba had done to protect her. "Rise, gentle knight. Remove thy garments and prepare to receive thy spankings."

Seto obeyed happily without question. He took off his silk shirt and black leather pants. Then, he bent over the bed, exposing his bony rear end. Serenity walked up beside him and swatted his bottom. She had never done this before and she was worried about hurting him, so she held back.

Seto felt the light stinging sensation on his ass and moaned with pleasure. He had fantasized about this moment for a long time, but never had the courage to ask his wife to indulge his fantasies until recently. He had considered hiring a professional dominatrix to do it for him, but resolved not to do so until he found out whether his wife would be willing to carry out his fantasies with him. He was extremely pleased that she was so willing to help him.

Every spank brought a release from all of his worries and troubles. He was no longer the CEO of Kaiba Corporation; he was Serenity's little slut. She was the responsible one, and she could do whatever she wanted with him.

Serenity grew tired of spanking him and stopped. "OK. Now what?"

Seto fell on his knees and buried his face in her skirt. "Just tell me what I can do to please you, my lady."

Serenity hesitated. She had read about neurotic people who sought to be controlled by others, but she had never expected such behavior from _her husband_. Then again, the literature she had read stated that many people in power use such unconventional methods of psychological therapy to balance their internal emotions. Otherwise, they might go crazy. Serenity decided that it would be better to fulfill her husband's desires than to let him develop a more serious mental condition.

"All right, Seto. See my bra over there?"

Seto nodded.

"Go pick it up and put it on. That's a good boy."

Seto crawled over to her bra and fumbled with the straps. It took him a while to figure out how to put it on, but he had seen Serenity do it many times and it was not any more complicated than the fancy trench coats with multiple buckles that the loved to wear to work. Once it was on, he crawled back over to her and sat obediently at her feet.

"Stand up and let me have a good look at you," Serenity ordered.

Seto did as he was told. Serenity circled him slowly and admired the way her husband looked in her bra. The strap around his torso was tight against his skin while the cups sagged like deflated balloons. Serenity pulled on a strap and released it. It hit his skin with a satisfying "snap!" She did this a few more times until the novelty wore off.

Then, she jumped onto the bed and lay on her back. She lifted her shirt, parted her legs, and said, "Service me!"

Seto knew exactly what she wanted. He got on his stomach and inched across the bed until his face hovered over her clitoris. He licked it lovingly, and then moved down to her entrance. She smelled stronger than usual and she had an unfamiliar chemical taste to her. _Did she get a new toy_? Seto wondered for a moment. Seto thought of commenting out loud, but decided that it would ruin the mood. Besides, _she_ was _his_ mistress. She could make him drink bleach if she wanted.

Seto trusted that the chemical would not be toxic enough to kill him. Even if it was, he would happily die serving his mistress. Seto pressed his nose up against Serenity's sweet spot as the thrust his tongue deep inside her. He wiggled his nose back and forth to stimulate her, and she moaned freely to express her pleasure. Oxytocin surged through her brain and hot, clear fluid poured into Seto's mouth. He licked it up hungrily, not letting a single drop of it go to waste.

Serenity rested for a few moments, and then repositioned herself into a more comfortable position where she could cuddle with Seto. She loosened the belt that held his trench coat on her body and let it slide open. Her delicious round breasts popped out and landed on top of the bra that Seto still wore. They stayed that way quietly and peacefully for a long time.

Serenity tried her best not to think about Mokuba, but memories of the time they shared together kept plaguing her mind. He never had to be ordered around. He always knew exactly what he wanted all along. Seto seemed torn between his work and her. Without realizing it, Serenity's hand found its way down to Seto's manhood and started stroking it.

Thoughts of Mokuba continued to trouble Serenity. She liked having Seto back home, but if he came home earlier, would she ever get a chance to spend more time with Mokuba? Now that she knew what he had to offer her, she did not think she could live without ever being able to make love to him again. What if she lost control one day and started humping him in front of Seto? What if she just ripped off her clothes and jumped all over him? _What if…?_

"… Serenity? Can I cum now? Please?" Seto begged.

Serenity realized how hard and fast she had been pumping him. His throbbing little member stared up at her pleading for release. "Yes. You've been a good boy. You can cum," Serenity said in a reassuring voice.

Semen jolted out of Seto's tiny dick, splooshing onto his trench coat and Serenity's skirt. Again, they lay there for a while just doing nothing. They drifted in and out of sleep several times until dinner time.

**Closing Note: **Don't forget to review and please recommend some more music for me. Even if it doesn't fit this particular chapter, it may inspire me in the future!


	25. Noel

**Warning: **OC Lemon

**Chapter 25 Noel**

"Here ye, Here ye!" Tulip announced to the residents of Rakitan Industries. Many of them had gone home for Christmas, but now they were all back together in the cafeteria. It was the only indoor facility that fit all of them at the same time.

Most people had told their families that they worked for a firm in the education industry, which was essentially true. Rakitan Industries was registered as a legitimate corporation and its mission statement was to provide educators with superb custom lesson plans for all subjects and all ages. Few clients actually came to their door, but that suited them just fine. They preferred to hand-pick their clients.

Tulip set up his laptop on a chair so that as many people as possible could see it, and then joined his friends. They crowded around it in a tight, compact group. Since almost everyone had two or more people they felt comfortable touching, everyone got a reasonably good view of the laptop screen. Most of them had seen it before anyway. Some of them even had relatives who had opened gifts from Pattel Corporation on Christmas morning. However, there was still something special about watching it all together for the first time.

The video streamed as it did before, and then cut to a reporter. "The individuals in this video have been identified. The lead singer has called herself Penguin, but several sources confirmed that she is in fact Katie Sutton. Katie and the other singers in the video were all students at Tokyo University until recently. When they graduated, all records of them simply disappeared."

Penguin sighed. She was one of the few people who had not gone home over the holidays and told her family about her involvement with Rakitan Industries. The sacrifice made her bitter inside, and she preferred not to talk about it. She knew that she would not be able to show her face in public again for a long time, perhaps never.

The reporter continued. "Police are conducting an investigation into the whereabouts of Penguin and the other conspirators who tried to tarnish Pattel Corporation's good name. Anyone with any information is requested to come forward immediately. In the meantime, we are calling this mysterious organization of pranksters 'Noel.' Thank you for watching Global Comm-"

Tulip paused the video.

"Noel… That would make us Noelites, wouldn't it?" Joan said thoughtfully.

"Yes, it has a nice ring to it," Pretty Pictures agreed.

Heads nodded.

"I say we keep it. It's a good way to divert attention from Rakitan Industries. All in favor?" Joan asked.

"Aye," most of the voices in the room chorused.

"Any against?" Joan asked just to seal the deal. Upon receiving no response, she asked, "Abstentions?" A few people shrugged. "Very well. From this day forward, our organization will be known as Noel and we will call ourselves Noelites."

Cheers and hoots of excitement issued forth from the Noelites. "Let's celebrate!" someone shouted. Since the Noelites kept themselves on a strict budget and did not indulge in unnecessary _things_, that meant indulging in each other. They started to match up into groups of two and three to go their separate ways.

"Let's go get our boyfriend," Tam suggested to Joan.

"Which one?" Joan said with a little laugh.

Trevor already had a woman with jet black hair and smoky grey eyes wrapped around him, while Sean was about to be dragged away by Penguin. Trevor was grinning from ear to ear, but Sean did not look so pleased with his fate. Sean spotted Tam and Joan looking at him and called out to them.

"Where do you think you're going, bitch? I claimed you first," Penguin said haughtily.

"Go find another man to serve as your second dildo. You can't blackmail me anymore," Sean shot back at her.

Penguin released Sean's arm in shock and blinked a few times. Then she said brusquely, "Fine. I will. Oh boys!" The blonde snapped her fingers and half a dozen willing males came to grovel at her feet.

Sean shook his head with a smile and went to his girlfriends. He scooped up one with each arm and they strolled away together like they had on the day they first met. They made their way past several other happy lovers who were negotiating their configurations and went to the gang shower.

In the mornings, women had a specific shower time all to themselves and men could shower afterwards. However, the shower was fair game to anyone throughout the rest of the day. Tam and Sean stripped and started the water while Joan gathered up some soap and other toiletries. Then, she also stripped and joined them.

They used two showerheads between the three of them, rotating the heads inward to create a luxurious downpour that soaked them thoroughly. Sean took some shampoo from Joan and lathered into Tam's natural blond hair. Meanwhile, Joan slid up behind Sean and scrubbed his back thoroughly. She relished the way his firm, lean muscled rolled easily over his frame as his hands and arms worked together to massage Tam's scalp.

When Joan finished washing Sean's back, she wrapped her arms around his narrow hips and found his manhood already hard and throbbing. She slipped her bar of soap over it, rotating it around his little head.

Sean groaned with pleasure, and his hands slipped down to Tam's small, perky breasts. Her nipples hardened quickly under his touch, and she arched her back. Her firm, tight buttocks ground up against Sean's cock and Joan's hand. Joan lit go of Sean's cock and let it slide between Tam's butt cheeks. He did not go inside her, but rather flattened his manhood against his lower torso while Tam ground her posterior up and down along his length.

Joan slid the bar of soap down to Sean's scrotum and washed it thoroughly. Even after it was clean, she continued to fondle it with the slippery soap. Sean moaned louder and worked his dick faster between Tam's firm butt cheeks. With a final grunt of release, he blew his load onto the small of her back and lead the steady downpour of the shower wash it away.

Tam and Joan turned Sean ninety degrees and faced inward towards each other. Then, they each grabbed one of his legs and mounted it. They then proceeded to hump him while rubbing their hands all over his body.

For a while, Sean was unsure of how to handle two girls rubbing themselves all over him. It just blew his mind. He put one hand on each girl's ass and helped them by supporting their movements. It was challenging because Tam moved faster than Joan, so his hands were out of synch with each other. However, Sean's extensive physical training had provided him with enough skill to pull it off.

Tam screamed with pleasure as her orgasm hit her, and then clung to Sean's chest while she recovered. Joan took much longer and when she finished, she twitched as she clung to both Sean and Tam at the same time. Sean leaned back against the wall of the shower while he supported the gasping girls.

Tam looked up into Sean's chocolate brown eyes and kissed him. "I love you," she said softly.

"I love you, too. Both of you," Sean replied.

Joan squirmed upwards so that she could kiss him as well, and then settled back down to his chest with a sigh. She could not believe she had spent so much time _not_ being close to him. Even before she had met the man who impregnated her and abandoned her, Sean was always there for her. Even though Tam had claimed him as a lover long ago, he still had a place in his heart for her.

The three Noelites finished their shower and toweled themselves dry. Then, they went to bed dreaming of each other and planning their next major prank on the government.

**Closing Note: **Reviews seem to be dwindling… Please review!


	26. First Words

**Music Lover's Alert: **If you enjoy listening to music while you read, I recommend "Promises" by Savage Garden.

**Chapter 26 First Words**

One fine Saturday morning, the whole Kaiba family sat around the dining table for breakfast. Janet squirmed in a highchair while Serenity spooned goop into her mouth. Seto had his laptop open, keeping one eye on Pattel's stock prices and the other eye on his breakfast. Mokuba sat on the other side of Janet, making sure that she didn't make too much of a mess when Serenity's spoon missed her daughter's mouth.

"Ga-ga-ga-ba-ba-da-da-da-do-do-doo…" Janet babbled as food slpooshed out of her mouth and onto her bib. It almost dripped into her lap, but Mokuba caught it just in time.

"Now Janet, you're making this very difficult for your mom and Uncle Mokuba. The more you try to talk while you eat, the more Mokuba has to clean up after you," Mokuba said in a kind, friendly voice.

"Mokuba!" Janet declared loudly.

Seto's chopsticks clattered onto the table. Everyone looked at Janet and froze.

Janet reached out to Mokuba and tugged on his long black hair. "Mokuba," she said again with a big smile.

Mokuba and Serenity gulped while Seto looked at them with penetrating electric blue eyes. A smile slowly spread across Seto's mouth. "That was her first word, wasn't it?" the CEO mused.

Serenity and Mokuba nodded.

"And I was actually here to hear it. Wow!" Seto jumped out of his seat and gave everyone hugs - first Mokuba, then Serenity, then Janet.

Janet was so unaccustomed to having her father approach her so rapidly that she squealed, "Moko! Moko!" in distress.

"Aw! She's so cute. Let's get her to say my name next," Seto said in excitement.

Janet let out a big, loud cry.

"Seto, let go of her. You're scaring her," Serenity pleaded.

Grudgingly, Seto backed away from Janet and let Serenity soothe her. Seto sat down beside Mokuba with his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand. "Why does she like you better than me?" he said dejectedly.

"I don't know. I just spend more time with her, I guess," Mokuba replied.

Once Serenity had calmed Janet down, she said, "You did such a good job! That's Uncle Mokuba."

"Unk- Unk Mokuba," Janet repeated happily.

"Now, let's learn your daddy's name. That's Daddy Seto," she said as she pointed to her husband.

Janet babbled some nonsense and grabbed the fabric of Serenity's pink shirt.

"Daddy Seto," Serenity said again more firmly.

"Mokuba."

Serenity pointed to Mokuba, and then to Seto to clarify. "Uncle Mokuba, Daddy Seto."

"Mokuba Unk Daddy"

Seto was obviously starting to grow impatient. "I'm Daddy Seto!" he nearly growled.

"Seto, calm down. These things take time," Mokuba assured his older brother. He then addressed Janet while pointing at Seto. "Daddy Seto," he said clearly.

"Daddy Seto," Janet repeated.

"Yes!" Seto hollered triumphantly. He jumped up again, grabbed Serenity, and twirled around the room with her. Then, he kissed her sever times while saying, "We have the most… wonderful… smartest… beautiful… daughter ever! Let's… make… another one!"

"What if it turns out to be a boy next time?" Serenity said with a giggle.

"Doesn't matter. Either way, I love you!" Seto proclaimed.

"I love you, too," Serenity said.

Just then, Seto's phone rang. He dropped everything and went to answer it. "Kaiba. This better be important," he barked to the person on the other end of the line. After listening for about a minute, he said, "Fine. I'll be right over," and shut the phone.

"What is it?" Serenity asked, sensing that something was wrong.

"Pattel Corporation is back in the game. This time, Bakura is lending them a helping hand. I need to go defend my territory. Politics." Seto gave Serenity a quick peck on the lips, and then turned to Mokuba. "It looks like you're the man of the house again. Take good care of my girls for me."

"I will," Mokuba promised.

Seto then alerted his limo driver to get ready and picked up his laptop. Serenity and Mokuba watched him leave.

As soon as he was gone, Serenity drifted into Mokuba's arms. "I guess it's just us again," she said softly.

"Do you think he really meant what he said in every sense of the word?" Mokuba wondered. He kissed Serenity on the forehead and stroked her hair.

"Uncle Mokuba!" Janet exclaimed, waving her arms to get his attention.

Mokuba smiled and said, "Yes, Janet. I'm Uncle Mokuba."

Serenity let go of Mokuba and turned towards her daughter. "Come on, Janet. We have a big day ahead of us"

"Jant" Janet said happily.

"Yes, that's you, Janet. You're picking up new words fast. Let's go to the park today and learn some more," Serenity said.

The Kaibas finished their breakfast together. Then, Serenity loaded Janet into a stroller and left the house with Mokuba. They went to Domino's central park and strolled along a pond filled with ducks.

Suddenly, a familiar voice called from across the park, "Serenity, hun! Fancy meeting you here!"

Serenity looked in the direction of the voice to see a buxom blonde with bright violet eyes waving madly at her. Standing right beside her no taller than her knee was a little boy with hair that matched his mother's.

"Hi Mai! It's great to see you," Serenity replied cheerfully.

Mai placed a hand on her son's head. "Hermos, this is Aunt Serenity, Cousin Janet, and Uncle Mokuba. Say hi to them."

"Hi," the boy replied dutifully.

"Hi!" Janet squealed with excitement.

"I see you have her talking. Does she walk yet?" Mai asked.

"No, She just started talking today, actually," Serenity admitted.

Just then, Joey came running up to the group with a couple of hot dogs and handed one to Mai. "Hey sis, hey Mokuba. If I knew that you were here I would have grabbed you some grub, too."

"It's OK. We're still full from breakfast," said Mokuba.

Serenity gave Joey a hug and Janet burst out with, "Daddy Seto!"

Joey looked around in confusion. "Hey, where is old moneybags, anyway?"

"He's at work. He had an emergency of some sort, so he told Mokuba to hang out with us today," Serenity explained.

Joey looked at Mokuba with a mixture of admiration and concern in his soft brown eyes. "Wow man! I really appreciate you keeping my sister company when you could have been out on a date or something, but you could have called me, you know. I'll hang out with my sis any day!"

Mokuba blushed a little. "I don't mind, really. I like hanging out with Serenity."

Joey slung an arm around Mokuba's broad shoulders and pulled him aside while the ladies fawned over each other's offspring. "Dude, let me lay this out for you: You've got to go out and meet some chicks."

"OK… I can meet women while I'm out with Serenity, right?" Mokuba said innocently.

"Wrong. You look too much like a couple when you're together. Chicks will get the wrong impression. They'll think you're her husband rather than her brother-in-law."

"You really think so?" Mokuba asked curiously.

"Yeah, and it will drive all the other chicks away. You don't want that, do you?"

Mokuba hesitated. "I guess not."

"Look, I'll take care of Serenity for the rest of the day. You go pick up a girl."

Mokuba opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came. He thought about telling Joey about his relationship with Serenity, but somehow it did not seem right to spill the beans without her permission.

"No, don't thank me. This is the kind of thing bros do for each other. If I was single, you'd do the same for me. Now get out there!" Joey slapped Mokuba on the back and pushed him away from Serenity, Mai, and the children.

Mokuba turned to look back at Serenity, but she was too busy chatting with Hermos to catch his gaze. "OK, Joey. I'll see you later then," he said awkwardly.

"That's the spirit!" Joey gave Mokuba a big grin and two thumbs up as he departed.

Mokuba left the park and wandered aimlessly through Domino. Just as Joey had predicted, several young ladies made eye contact with him. Mokuba smiled back at them, but he simply was not in the mood to take things any further. He felt so fake trying to flirt with women he did now know. What was the point? He had dated enough women to know that most of them were shallow and just not very interesting. Serenity, on the other hand, had won his heart long before he kissed her. If he was going to fall in love with another woman, he wanted it to happen slowly, naturally.

Mokuba strolled by the place where Solomon Moto's game shop once stood. It had been bought by a candy company called Bestle a few months ago when Yugi's grandfather retired. Yugi himself now lived in Egypt with his wife Ishizu. Yugi sent letters to Joey from time to time, but for the most part he led an isolated existence digging up artifacts. Mokuba sometimes wondered why the King of Games had decided to leave his friends behind. Maybe Yugi just got sick of all the publicity and wanted to settle down. At least Yugi kept in touch even if his life was boring.

Come to think of it, Yugi's absence was not nearly as strange as Tristan or Duke's disappearance. Mokuba had not heard a word from either of them in years even though both of them had once expressed interest in Serenity. Despite Mokuba's curiosity, he also knew it was none of his business. He could easily hack into government files to locate them, but they were Yugi and Joey's friends, not his.


	27. Election Announcement

**Author's Note: **This is one of the chapters I wrote more recently, and then had to rearrange a few things. Hopefully the story won't get too jumbled and confusing, but I think there are a couple of things here that were supposed to fit into a certain place in the story, but then wound up here instead.

**Music Lover's Alert: "**Too Hot" by Kool And The Gang and "Culture of Fear" by Thievery Corporation.

**Chapter 27 Election Announcement**

Bakura, Pegasus, and Jones stood before a mob of reporters. The two long-haired CEOS stood on either side of the much older CEO of Stellar Defense. Unlike the other two, whose hair had been colorless from birth, Gilbert Jones was rapidly losing the color in his brown hair. It contained several swaths of gray, and deep lines crossed his face, making him look at least five years older than he actually was. His posture stooped as if he was carrying the burdens of the other two men, who stood tall beside him.

"Mr. Jones, Mr. Jones!" the reporters yelled, clamoring for his attention. Most of them were from Global Communications, but Bakura had allowed a few reporters from smaller local networks to come as a gesture of good faith.

Cheryl Gardner stood at the front of the crowd with her chin-length bob of brown hair and azure eyes. She did not have her sister's graceful dancing limbs, but her tailored suit made her look exceptionally sharp. Gilbert Jones acknowledged the reporter with a nod of his graying head.

"Why has the government decided to hold elections?" Cheryl asked.

"It has always been our intention from the very beginning to have a safe, democratic society for everyone. Now that the world is stable and at peace, we can take the next step. In six weeks, we will hold our first mayoral elections."

"How much power will these mayors have?" another reporter asked.

Gilbert Jones's orange pietersite eyes drifted between the reporter and the main camera as he spoke his well-rehearsed response, "The mayors will be able to deal with local issues and enact any ordinances that do not conflict with government laws."

"Who will be allowed to vote in the election?" Cheryl asked.

"Anyone over the age of twenty will be allowed to vote with a valid government ID card."

"Will voting be compulsory?" someone else wondered.

"No."

"What if someone tries to vote more than once?" another Global Communications reporter asked.

Pegasus took a single step forward. His flamboyant pink suit contrasted sharply with Jones's drab one. "All votes will be recorded by Industrial Illusions voting machines. The machines will be able to communicate with each other through a secure network to ensure that every person votes only once."

"Mr. Pegasus, what happens if someone tried to hack into the network?" an independent reporter asked.

Bakura let out a short laugh of amusement. "Never going to happen. Industrial Illusions has the best computer security system on the planet. Even my people can't hack into them. That's why Global Enterprises relies on Industrial Illusions computers."

.o.O.o.

Back at Rakitan Industries

.o.O.o.

Tulip paused the video on his laptop and faced the other people in the room. His forest green eyes shone with worry beneath his crooked glasses. "He's right, you know. Pegasus has upgraded his firewalls since we first hacked into all the major corporations. My team has tried and failed to gather more information on these voting machines several times."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Pretty Pictures asked.

"No," Joan replied, "If the people don't know how Pegasus programmed the machines in the first place, he can see to it that Bakura's preferred candidates are selected as the winners of the mayoral elections. In addition, he will be able to find out who voted for whom and who did not vote at all."

Penguin clutched her blond head. "This is nuts! At least when we voted for old KK, we had paper ballots and real people counted our votes."

"And our votes were private," Sean added.

"Bakura might allow a rebel to run as a candidate with the intention of recording the names of those who voted for him and monitoring them," Joan speculated, "It's quite a clever trap, really."

Pretty Pictures gasped. "Does this mean we can't vote?"

Penguin's hazel eyes hardened. "I'm the only one here who can't vote. The rest of you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. If you don't vote, they'll record the fact that you didn't vote and try to trace me through you. That bastard has worked us into a corner. The only thing you can do is to vote for Bakura's candidate to draw suspicion away from here."

The room was silent for a moment until Jamie said, "I feel so… violated."

Penguin stuck out her chin resolutely. "Even if I could vote, I would not let them take away my dignity. Katie Sutton would vote, but Penguin would abstain, having no part in this atrocious scheme."

Her girlfriend chimed in, "Same here! Jessica Dennis will vote, but Pretty Pictures will abstain."

Tulip expressed his support of their plan as well.

"Wait a minute," Joan said, "That means I have to vote twice. Since Tulip made Kari Rakitan into a legal person, I have two ID cards."

"What about me?" Jamie whined, "I don't even have a code name at all."

"That can be arranged," Penguin offered.

"But I like my name the way it-"

"-Shut up and be grateful, bitch!"

Sean sat back in his seat with a little smirk on his ruggedly handsome face. He briefly considered giving Penguin a spanking, but then decided that it was up to Jamie to stand up for himself in this situation. Besides, Penguin's sassy attitude was not quite as annoying as Jamie's whining.

Joan coughed. "Moving on, we need to figure out what we _can_ do about this situation."

"We'll assassinate the mayors," Penguin said matter-of-factly, "If Bakura wants to put his pawn in office, we'll take them out one-by-one."

Joan shook her head. "We already have a reputation as terrorists. Let's not make it any worse than it already is. Besides, I for one will not be involved in any deliberate killing. If that is where this organization is headed, I'm out."

"Same here," Sean agreed, "I've killed enough people already; it isn't a pretty sight. I wanted to join a peaceful group of protesters, not another army. If that is what we become, I'm going elsewhere."

"There has to be a way around this. I agree that killing people is probably a bad idea, especially because Bakura can just replace them at the drop of a hat. Why not humiliate them, though? I'm sure my team can think of a good way to do it," Pretty Pictures offered.

There were nods around the table.

"OK. You do that and report back to us tomorrow. Better yet, I'll join you and help you brainstorm," Joan said.

The team leaders concluded their meetings and went their separate ways. Joan followed Pretty Pictures to the creativity room, Sean went outside to train his troops, and the others worked on what they could.

….

Serenity, Mokuba, Janet, and Seto sat around the breakfast table in their mansion. Serenity carefully fed Janet gobs of mush while Mokuba awkwardly tried to draw Seto away from his laptop by engaging him in conversation.

"So… who are you going to vote for?" Mokuba asked.

Seto grumbled and replied, "I don't have time to vote, Mokuba. Even if I did, it wouldn't matter."

Mokuba looked at Serenity and saw a dull pain in her olivine eyes. He quickly looked back at Seto and said, "Of course it matters! It's your civic duty, Seto. You can't spend _all_ your time working."

"Last time I checked, voting was not compulsory," Seto said stoically.

"That doesn't mean you should neglect it. For heaven's sake, pay attention, Seto! There's so much happening right now and you're missing it. Wake up!"

"Mokuba, I know exactly what is going on. I'm not going to vote because I already know the outcome of the election. Pegasus has rigged his machines to give Bakura's favorite mayor eighty plus or minus three percent of the vote in every city. The runner-up will get fifteen plus or minus three percent of the vote, and the rebel candidate will receive one half of one percent plus or minus zero point three percent. It doesn't matter how the people vote at all."

Serenity's hand trembled, and goop sloshed onto Janet's Blue Eyes White Dragon bib. "How do you know this?" the auburnette asked.

Seto shrugged. "Pegasus's computer security is not a tight as he would like to think. Certainly it can keep out most hackers, but since I know the snake and the games he plays, I like to keep a close eye on him."

Serenity and Mokuba exchanged glances. Seto was obviously paying more attention to Pegasus's actions than he was to his own family, or perhaps he simply trusted his family more.

"If Pegasus is really tricking people out of their votes, why don't you tell somebody?" Mokuba asked.

Seto snorted and gave Mokuba a you-should-know-better look. Then, he went back to working on his laptop.

Mokuba gulped and looked down at his plate. Of course he knew why Seto couldn't tell the world about the rigged machines. It was the same reason why he couldn't tell anyone about his love for Serenity. It could lead him into big trouble and destroy the family. His hands were tied. Both brothers' hands were tied.

"Seto, do you think that people would be able to handle the truth if it came out? That is, if you _could_ tell them?" Serenity wondered.

Temporarily free from having food in her mouth, Janet echoed, "Tell them people!"

Hearing his daughter's voice, Seto smiled a little and looked up again. "All I can say with certainty is that different people will react in different ways. A _reasonable_ man would find a way to change it if he could and learn to live with it if he could not. An _unreasonable_ man would run out into the street with the mob and fall victim to Stellar Defense's satellites."

Serenity cringed. Nobody mentioned the orange beams of light that fried nearly a two billion people several years ago. It just didn't come up in polite conversation. The protesters who had died never saw it coming, and there was no way they could have expected it. Now that they knew what would happen to them it they tried to dissent publicly, they stayed indoors.

Janet tried out a few of the words that Seto had uttered on her own tongue, but nobody bothered to explain to her what they meant. She grew impatient at the lack of attention the adults were giving her and pounded her fist into her bowl of mush. It splattered all over Serenity's pink shirt.

"Janet! Look at the mess you made!" Serenity scolded.

"Look at the mess you made," Janet repeated.

Serenity's cheeks flushed at her daughter's words, but Seto was no longer looking at her. _Get a grip!_ Serenity scolded herself. She then proceeded to explain to her daughter the proper usage of the pronouns "I" and "you."

Seto spent the rest of his meal glued to his laptop. When he had eaten his fill he packed up his things, gave Serenity a quick peck on the lips, and left. Then, Mokuba picked up the responsibility that he had assumed as Serenity's other husband.


	28. DUNCE Caps

**Author's Note: **I skipped over the actual election process and a few other things. I hope you all don't mind! This is my sorry attempt to make some exciting action stuff.

**Chapter 28 DUNCE Caps**

"The pig has been fed," Tulip told Tam and Sean over the radio, indicating that he had hacked into the mansion's security systems and neutralized them.

Tam and Sean crouched outside the mansion of the Mayor of Domino City. They had assigned their other team members to different mayoral mansions around the territory of Japan, depending on their skill levels. Domino City, being a relatively wealthy place, had one of the toughest security systems to break. Even after Tulip deactivated the alarms and looped the feeds on the security cameras, there were still several obstacles to overcome.

Sean looked through the sights of a sniper tranquilizer dart gun that Jamie had put together. His target was a pit bull pacing the front lawn. "Damn! This POS is falling apart. Where did the parts for this come from, Schroeder Corporation?" He wiggled a loose plastic part on the device.

"Can I help you hold it together?" Tam asked.

"If it was a real firearm I would say no, but since it is spring-loaded, it will probably be fine. Grip the barrel here while I press this and… yeah, like that."

With four hands on the device, they carefully took aim at the dog. It discharged with a _click_, and sent the dart spiraling forward. However, it landed about a meter short of their target. The spring inside the gun also popped loose.

Tam and Sean barely had time to exchange glances before the dog came charging at them. They separated, running in opposite directions. The beast chose to follow Sean. Realizing this, Tam sprinted across the grass and grabbed the tranquilizer dart that they had discharged. She then dashed after the barking dog. With Sean running in a zig-zag pattern that was obvious to her but not the dog, it didn't take long to catch up. Tam lunged and tackled the pit bull. It yelped as she jabbed the tranquilizer dart into it, but then fell limp.

Sean breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his brow when he realized that his girlfriend had successfully subdued his adversary. They then tensed themselves for the possibility that a man in pajamas might come running out of the mansion waving a shotgun. When none appeared, Sean touched his radio and asked, "Tulip, is the pig still in the blanket?"

There was a short pause. "Yes. He looks so cute, too, It's almost a shame we have to-"

"-Tulip!"

"Right. Proceed."

Sean and Tam approached the mansion. Sean latched onto the brick wall with his bare hands and scaled it like Spiderman. When he reached a balcony on the third floor, he tossed a rope down to Tam.

After joining him on the balcony, she whispered, "I still don't get how you do that."

"If I ever figure out how I do it, I'll teach you," he responded.

Gently, Sean unloaded a glass cutter from the backpack he wore and secured it to the bulletproof sliding glass door that protected the bedroom from the elements and intruders. Unlike the dart gun that Jamie's team had contributed, the electric glass cutter had been more carefully engineered and tested. Noise cancelling technology surrounded the powerful motor, silencing the high-pitched whine that it would otherwise produce. The Noelites could have gotten a motor that was designed not to produce any noise in the first place, but such motors were ten times as expensive and the technology team wanted to fool around with sound waves. Thankfully, their efforts were successful.

Sean cut a hole large enough for him and Tam to step through. He removed the pane of glass with care and set it aside.

While Sean was cutting the glass, Tam had prepared her own equipment. She now held a syringe filled with a tranquilizer similar to the one she had given the dog, but of a purer grade for humans. A tiny LED mounted on the barrel of the syringe would give her enough light to find the mayor's vein without revealing her identity to him. She wished she also had a memory erasing device in case something went wrong, but this operation had to be flawless.

In a single graceful leap, Tam straddled the body on the bed within the room. Her muscular legs pinned it in place while it tried to shift under the sudden weight. The mayor groaned and complained as the needle penetrated his neck, but whether he consciously recognized that two strangers were in his room before the chemical forced him into a deeper sleep remained a mystery.

After the mayor went limp, Sean and Tam worked quickly to assemble a conical hat from the loose pieces of steel in their backpacks. The parts snapped together easily, but once the whole thing was assembled, there was no easy way to take it apart. A collar around the mayor's neck ensured that the metal contraption would stay in place. They worked primarily by touch with the light of a single LED just in case they dropped something.

When the pig was fully harnessed, they made him as comfortable as they could and left the way they came. Tulip, Adam, Clarissa, and the other members of the information team continued to monitor the security cameras long after the action team left, taking shifts late into the night to capture the exact moment when the mayor woke.


	29. Power

**Author's Note**: Um…. I just realized that I made a big mistake trying to put the election sequence here instead of waiting until later. There aren't any major spoilers yet, but I realized… well this was actually the 40th chapter in my paper notebook, and when I renumbered them, I knew these three election chapters had to go in sequence. Chapter 28 was the 44th chapter in my paper notebook and… um…

After this chapter, Janet is going to get younger again. She's more like two and a half here, and she'll go back to being one. By that logic of keeping these three chapters together, I made her too young in chapter 27. That's what threw me off when I was renumbering. Penguin is also more of a legend at this point, but she was just introduced to the public and it should have taken more time to build up her reputation…. So there are some missing things here.

If I was actually publishing this for a profit I would make an effort to go back and put these three chapters somewhere else, but at this point… I wanted the mayors elected earlier, but… yeah. I'm honestly a little burned out on this story in general. I have all the chapters done, so you _will_ get the rest of them as I edit and post them. Hopefully this won't screw things up too much! I'm sorry!

**Chapter 29 Power**

Janet sat on the white leather couch of the TV room with a large electronic game on the coffee table in front of her. It was something that Seto had spent countless weeks designing, and now sold to thousands of parents with young children around the world. Although Janet did not fully comprehend how much time and effort her father had put into making her toy, she loved it. Mokuba and Serenity watched Janet play with the device with soft smiles on their faces. Even though Seto spent very little time at home, this gift clearly demonstrated that his daughter was never far from his mind.

Janet pounded her hands on the durable touch screen of the device to identify the answers to simple questions such as what a particular farm animal looked like or what letter of the alphabet corresponded to a certain sound. It responded with a "good job!" recorded from Serenity's voice whenever she got the correct answer. The machine was capable of running several different programs, and automatically adjusted to a child's learning speed. At the rate she was going, Janet would be able to read full sentences by the end of the year.

Mokuba and Serenity cuddled and watched TV while Janet played. They were watching a news story about a celebrity who had been caught having a threesome with two women other than his wife when suddenly the screen went completely white.

Mokuba and Serenity looked at each other in alarm and sat up straight. This was extremely peculiar. Global Communications never, ever disrupted their cable service before now.

Two seconds later, a blonde with hazel eyes wearing a hot pink suit and immaculately perfect makeup appeared on the screen. She wore a constant smirk on her face and stared right through the television toward her audience.

Mokuba shivered a little when he saw her. She had an indescribable fire that so few people these days possessed. "Is that who I think it is?" he found himself saying.

Serenity looked closely. "It is. It's _Penguin_."

Janet stopped what she was doing and looked up. Her tiny mouth hung open as if she was trying to decide whether or not now would be a good time to cry. She froze like that, staring at the woman on the screen.

Penguin spoke sharply yet steadily. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to bring you _real_ news. You can return to watching that pointless dribble Global Enterprises likes to feed you later.

"It has come to Noel's attention that the so-called mayoral 'elections' that have been taking place are nothing more than ploys to make you _feel_ like you actually have a say in your government. Have any of you noticed that the only way to vote is through an Industrial Illusions voting machine? Have any of you actually read the code that records and tallies your votes? Of course not! It is supposedly 'confidential' and 'protected.' How many of you would be surprised to know that the government does not pay attention to whom you as an individual vote for, but completely disregards your preferences in the end? Your voting system is a black box. It exists only to pacify your desire to have some control over the way your government operates without actually satisfying it.

"The fact of the matter is that every single mayor out there today was hand-picked by Global Enterprises, and Industrial Illusions ensured their election. These are men who look good on television, but who don't have any intention of actually listening to the people. They say what Global Enterprises tells them to say and go where Global Enterprises tells them to go.

"If you have been paying attention to the news in the territory of Japan, you may have noticed that every single one of these 'mayors' cancelled their upcoming public appearances due to a cold or flu. The true reason why the mayors are hiding their faces, however, is much more entertaining."

The video cut to an image of a sleeping middle-aged man. On his head was strapped a large steel cone with the letters DUNCE stacked vertically. The man rolled over in his sleep and felt that something was not quite normal. He tossed and turned a few times before his hands went to his head and he found the smooth metal object strapped to it. He tugged on it, but found that it would not budge. The steel ran down behind his ears and around his neck, making it impossible to remove.

The man opened his brown eyes wide and bolted upright. The camera now had a better view of him, and people could see that he was the mayor of Domino City. He dashed to the bathroom, and the camera cut to a different one pointed at his mirror. His face drained of all color when he saw what was written on his hat.

After a few more minutes of fretting and trying to remove the hat, he grabbed his mobile phone and speed-dialed his publicity coordinator. "Cynthia, get over here fast. I need your help with something… Tell them I can't make it… I don't care! Make something up!" He ended the call and paced helplessly around his bedroom.

The camera cut back to Penguin. She grinned deviously as the camera panned out to reveal her three other singing companions. They began singing in four-part harmony a song that only those who had watched the local, independent news channels the previous month would be able to recognize:

_Maybe we're not so dangerous_

_Why don't you listen to us?_

_Hear us out_

_We've got something to talk about_

_Remember back when_

_You voted with a pen_

_Then, all votes were counted_

_By real folks_

_Who kept the results fair_

_There were no secrets_

_In the circuits_

_Of machines that had not conscience_

_Paper ballots always showed_

_Who won and who must fold_

_Maybe we're not so dangerous_

_Why don't you listen to us?_

_Hear us out_

_We've got something to talk about_

_Look at us now_

_We do not know how_

_Our votes were tallied_

_Now we're stymied_

_Into thinking that we had a choice_

_When we really had no voice_

_And now we're supposed to feel_

_Like our votes were somehow real?_

_Fat chance!_

_Maybe we're not so dangerous_

_Why don't you listen to us?_

_Hear us out_

_We've got something to talk about_

Penguin and the other Noelites faded from the screen. Global Communications came back on, continuing with its regular news story as if it had never been interrupted.

"What just happened?" Serenity asked.

"More importantly_, how_. It looks like Global Cable just got hacked, but they didn't even know it," Mokuba replied.

"Noel hacked cable TV?" Janet asked.

"Yes. We think so," Mokuba replied.

"Why?" Janet asked, looking at him with her bright blue eyes.

"They wanted to tell us something; something that Global Communications did not want us to know."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did Global Communications not want us to know?"

"They, um… Serenity, a little help here?" Mokuba pleaded.

"They have a lot of power, and they want to keep it," Serenity explained.

"Why?"

"Power lets people do more of the things they want to do," Serenity said.

"Why?"

"You tell me, miss smarty pants. What's the definition of power?"

Janet punched a few icons on the screen of her electronic toy. Then, she said aloud, "Power."

"Power," the device repeated, "noun. **One**. The ability or official capacity to act or perform effectively. **Two**…" the machine continued to drone on and on in its synthesized female voice, "**Nine**._ Physics_. The rate at which work is performed, mathematically expressed as the first derivative of work with respect to time and commonly measured in units such as the watt and horsepower. **Ten**. _Electricity_. **A**. The product of applied potential difference and current in a direct-current circuit. **B.** The product of the effective values of the voltage and current with the cosine of the phase angle between current and voltage in an alternating-current circuit. **Eleven**-"

"-Enough! Mokuba cried, "We were talking about the first three or four definitions."

"But I like _ten_. Ten makes my toy work," Janet protested.

"Yes, electricity is what makes your toy work," Mokuba told her.

"Is it **a** or **b**?" Janet asked.

"It's both. Alternating-current, or AC for short, comes out of the wall. Then, a tiny machine turns it into direct-current, or DC for short, and stores it by moving the electrons in the batteries of your toy from one place to another. Then, when you turn on your toy, the electrons move in the opposite direction to give power back to your toy."

Janet clapped her hands in excitement. "Power! So fun! What are electrons?"

Serenity and Mokuba spent the next hour trying to explain subatomic particles to the little girl. Some things she understood immediately, but other things would take more time for her to learn. Eventually, she fell asleep on the white leather couch between her mother and her uncle.

Mokuba picked up Janet and carried her upstairs while Serenity followed. They then tucked her into her crib in the nursery and turned out the light.

"Wanna fool around?" Mokuba asked Serenity softly as soon as they were back in the hallway.

"You know it," Serenity replied with her olivine eyes glowing.

They interdigitated their hands and strolled easily to Mokuba's room. With the warm softness of each other's touch, all of their worries and cares disappeared.


	30. Meanwhile, in North America

**Author's Note: **Some of you may have been wondering what Hallshipping is. Well, here you go!

**Music Lover's Alert: **If you enjoy listening to music while you read, I recommend "Like I Think About You" by David Rovics and "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye just to show the conflicting emotions.

**Warning:** Gratuitous lemon at the end.

**Chapter 30 Meanwhile, in North America**

Tristan carefully smoothed his tall spike of brown hair in the mirror. Then, he took a deep breath and adjusted his tuxedo. His chocolate brown eyes stared back at him with questions he did not want to answer.

"Come on, man. It's now or never. Don't do this to yourself. You need to move on and be happy. _She_ moved on. _She_ doesn't ever want to see you again," he said to his reflection.

"Come on, man. It's about to start," said another tuxedo-clad man from the doorway, "what are you doing in here, anyway?"

Tristan looked up to see his college roommate Joe. "I…"

"You're getting cold feet, aren't you? Don't worry about it, man. It happens to everybody," Joe said confidently.

Tristan sighed. "I just never had a chance to say goodbye to her."

-flashback-

Serenity looked at her brother for help, but he too was at a loss for words. The four friends sat in silence for a while. Then, Yugi came up with an idea. "Hey! Bakura now owns International Enterprises, right? That means he also owns International Airlines! Maybe he'll give us special deals on flights so we can visit each other more often."

Tristan shook his head slowly. "I've already spoken with Bakura about that. He just laughed at me and said that I should focus on my studies instead of my love life. Unfortunately, I think he has a point."

"What are you saying, Tristan?" Serenity asked.

"Serenity, I just want you to be happy, and I… I think we should see other people," Tristan said with a gulp.

Now, it was Serenity's turn to cry. She clung to her boyfriend's chest, sobbing while he stroked her hair.

"Tristan, you jerk!" Joey yelled, "My sister just saved your life, and this is how you thank her!?" Joey stood abruptly and grabbed Serenity by the hand, hauling her away from Tristan. On his way out, he passed Tea and threw some bills on her serving tray. "If that doesn't cover it, I'll pay you back later."

Yugi and Tristan sat dumbfounded while Tea came over to their table. "What was that about?" she asked.

"Tristan just broke up with Serenity," Yugi explained.

"What!? Tristan, how could you? You two made the perfect couple!" Tea gushed.

-end flashback-

"Is this about that chick again? Seriously man, get a grip," Joe said.

"Did you look her up again for me like I asked?"

"Yeah. Nothing has changed. She is still married to that rich asshole. Let it go, man. Put it behind you. You're getting married to one of the most beautiful girls in our graduating class. She's from the most powerful family in the world, too. Do you have any idea how many men would kill to be in your position?"

"No, but I know how many have been killed to put her second cousin in his position. Listen, Joe. I've never told anyone this, so you've got to keep it in confidence. Serenity _saved_ me - not just before, but even after I broke up with her. She could have done nothing, but she called our mutual friend Rebecca and told her to warn me."

"You're tripping, man. She probably warned all of her friends and told them to warn all of their friends."

"No! That's not it at all. Serenity singled me out. We had another friend, Duke Devlin. He never got warned and he got fried."

Joe suddenly took on a much more serious expression. "Then why did you go after other girls?"

"Rebecca told me that Serenity was dating Kaiba. I figured that I should date someone else, too. You know, just for the fun of it. I thought that her thing with Kaiba would never last, but then she ended up married to the guy." Tristan started to shake as he held back his tears.

Joe placed a firm hand on Tristan's shoulder. "Stop doing this to yourself, Tristan. Maybe warning you through that other chick was just her way of saying goodbye. Anyway, you can't live in the past forever. You're about to get married, have a shitload of kids, and live happily ever after."

Tristan sniffled. "You're right. Goodbye, Serenity, I found someone else to love. I'll never forget-"

"-That's enough, man. Come on! We're already late."

Tristan took one last look in the mirror, and then let his friend lead him out of the bathroom. They made their way into a grand church with an arched ceiling and stained glass windows. Tristan took his place on the altar, and his college roommate stood beside him. Tristan wrung his hands nervously while he waited.

When the music started and his bride began to walk down the aisle, his spirits lifted. There was something about her that chased away all dark thoughts from his mind. Perhaps it was the way she walked so gracefully, or perhaps it was the way her blue eyes gleamed with a magical inner light. Whatever it was, it always made a smile tug at the corners of Tristan's mouth. No matter how hard he tried to resist it, the smile always won. Its power took over his whole face, and then spread a warm tingly feeling through the rest of his body.

Tristan's bride had long, silvery white hair. It had been that way from birth. Albinism ran in both the Bakura and Pegasus families, and she had ties to the Bakuras. Since her hair was already white, she had decided to wear a sky blue dress with long slits for easy walking. It complimented her gorgeous blue eyes and made her figure stand out sharply against the background of her white hair. If she had worn white, she would have looked more like a ghost than a woman. Blue made her look radiant, graceful, and confident. Instead of a veil, she wore a silver tiara with indicolite tourmaline stones.

The woman's father also wore blue as he walked her up the aisle and gave her away. Dark blue suits were the trademark of all grown men in the Bakura family, and this Bakura was no exceptions. However, unlike the CEO of Global Enterprises, he wore his white hair short. It made him look older than his fifty-two years, but it mattered little because he was not the one getting married.

The ceremony proceeded with traditional readings, traditional vows, and traditional rings. At last, the priest said, "Kisara and Tristan Taylor, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Tristan leaned in close to Kisara and gently pressed his lips to hers. Kisara hiked one leg around his hip and drew him even closer, deepening the kiss. Cheers and wolf whistles issued forth from their college friends as they admired her bare leg with a delicate silver strappy heel on her slender foot. Her father blushed with embarrassment. His daughter had always been a free spirit, but never this lewd before. It he had known that she was going to pull a stunt like this in front of everyone, he would have insisted that she wear a more conservative dress. Oh well. It was too late to worry about such things. She was no longer a Bakura.

….

Later that evening after all of the merry-making was over and all of the guests had gone home, Tristan carried Kisara over the threshold of their new home. Although her family had given her lots of money upon her marriage, it was not unlimited. Thus, she and Tristan decided to invest in a house rather than going on an expensive honeymoon. After all, they had already traveled to many places around the world separately and they could always travel in the future when they had saved up some more money.

Tristan did not set Kisara down immediately, but rather carried her all the way into the master bedroom where a king sized bed was waiting for them. The bed was spread with a snow white comforter and sprinkled with fresh rose petals. Tristan laid Kisara down on the bed and kissed her ankles as he gently slid off her silver heels. Then, he kissed his way up her leg, moving along the outside of her thigh where the long slit in her blue dress exposed her skin. When he reached the end of it, he lifted his mouth and made a beeline for hers.

Kisara wrapped her legs around Tristan's hips and helped to draw his body along hers so that he could reach her mouth. As they kissed, she undid the bow tie and other components of his tuxedo. She also arched her back so that he could reach the zipper at the back of her dress. The dress fell away from her easily, and its built-in bra along with it. Tristan's tuxedo was more difficult to dismantle, but Kisara's slender, nimble fingers handled the task with ease. Before Tristan could even begin to think about touching her panties, Kisara had pushed his slacks along with his briefs down to his knees.

Kisara reached for Tristan's member, and it hardened under her touch. She broke her kiss with Tristan to look down at it and gasped.

"What is it?" Tristan asked nervously.

"It's perfect! Tristan, you're the man of my dreams!" Kisara gushed.

"Seriously? You like it? It's not too small?" he said cautiously.

"Are you kidding? It's even bigger than I imagined! Now stick it in and let's make babies!" she said with a silly grin on her face. Tristan's dick was indeed larger than the one she had imagined, but not by much. The man who always appeared in her dreams was also tall like Tristan, but it was so hard to know for sure. He also had brown hair like Tristan, but wore it loose rather than gelled into a single spike. There was one more thing that Kisara never mentioned to Tristan about the man of her dreams; his eyes were a sharp, electric blue like hers. Every time Kisara looked in the mirror, she was reminded of the strange man who made love to her while she slept. However, she chalked the phenomenon up to a trick her subconscious mind played on her. She had taken enough psychology courses to know how vain humans can be. Aside from that one major feature, Tristan shared many similarities with the mysterious man she loved in the night that she decided they were one in the same. Plus, she felt a strong connection with him. Man of her dreams or not, she loved him without any reservations. Kisara wiggled her teal panties off her hips and down her legs. Then, she kicked them away and spread her legs wide.

Tristan gulped and looked down at Kisara's delicate orchid. "Um… where do I… um…" his dick shrunk.

"Just relax. I'll help you," Kisara said in a soft, sweet tone. She stroked Tristan's softening manhood to get it hard again and gently pulled it toward her. She guided it into herself slowly and wrapped her legs around the underside of his buttocks for leverage. She took him deep inside her, and drew back from him again.

"Oh my God!" Tristan exclaimed as her warm wetness surrounded him. Eager to experience her soft folds again, he thrust himself back into her over and over. Waves of pleasure surged through him, building to the ultimate high. Then, suddenly his seed bust out of him and filled his wife. Kisara panted and kissed him everywhere she could reach while he collapsed on top on her and held her tightly. Tristan's sperm swam around inside her searching for a receptive egg cell, but there was none to be found. The millions of little gametes died in vain.


	31. Meanwhile, in Egypt

**Warning:** More sex, and some friendly Yugi-bashing. It might have a slight YGOTAS quality to it. I started this chapter on a serious note, and then got silly overplaying Yugi's innocence.

**Music Lover's Alert: **"Africa" by Toto

**Chapter 31 Meanwhile, in Egypt…**

"Why? Did you suddenly decide you wanted kids or something?" Ishizu snorted in indignation.

Yugi's wife was a tall, proud woman with azure eyes, long black hair, and olive skin. However, her skin had gradually lightened over the years due to the fact that she wore the modest garments of a Muslim woman every time she went outside.

"Um… I thought that maybe you might want kids," the petite man with tri-colored hair and violet eyes answered. He looked down at the dirt floor of their humble home. Yugi and Ishizu were technically nomads, taking their canvas tent from one archeological site to the next all over Egypt. However, it was still home. They had become so efficient in taking down their tent and putting its furnishings in the exact same places that they had been before that they became comfortable with their surroundings and developed habits like any normal family.

Ishizu snorted again. "What gave you that idea? Don't you see that there is no room for kids in here?" Ishizu flung her arms out to gesture at the size of the tent. She had a point. Their small double bed took up most of the tent's interior, and the containers that held their clothes, books, and tools took up what little space remained. The containers doubled as tables and chairs where they could do their research and eat their meals.

"It's just that we've always slept in the same bed, so I always assumed that someday you wanted me to… impregnate you?" The twenty-four-year-old virgin blushed.

"Shit, Yugi! I don't want kids!" A beautiful golden eye gleamed from a necklace at her throat. It served as a warning signal to her when the other millennium items were in danger of being discovered. Six years ago, when she and Yugi were both students at Cairo University, it had told her that marrying Yugi and pretending to be a Muslim in public was the only way they could ensure their privacy under the university's strict codes about males and females living together while taking courses. At the time, the necklace informed her that she could trust nobody other than Yugi to keep the items out of Bakura's hands.

Now, it was silent. This frustrated Ishizu even more than Yugi's offer to have sex with her for the first time after six quiet years of marriage. The necklace showed her only what it wanted to show her. Sometimes, she could coax visions out of it by concentrating, but such bits of information always proved trivial. She had no inkling of what would transpire between her and her husband. It made her feel insecure, powerless that she knew so little about her own destiny.

She let her anger get the best of her, and yelled at her husband in frustration, "If you want kids so badly, divorce me and go marry someone who actually wants a bunch of needy rugrats running around. I'll find someone else to guard the millennium items with me!"

Yugi curled into a little ball on the bed, hugging his knees to his chest. "No," he said softly, "no."

"Why not? Go on! You're still young. You can get any woman you want. Just get out of here. I'll be fine without you," Ishizu said, glaring at him.

Yugi bit his lower lip. This had not turned out at all like he expected. Ishizu had always been more affectionate toward him than he was toward her. He thought that she would be pleased when he told her that he finally wanted to make love to her. He thought it would bring them closer together, not drive them apart. A tear slipped down his cheek as he choked out a series of words that he had never before uttered to her. "Ishizu, I l-love you."

Ishizu froze with one hand suspended in the air and the other hand on her hip. Her jaw dropped open, and she stared at him for several moments while gears clicked and whirred in her head. At last, she said, "You really mean it?"

Yugi nodded.

"When did this happen?"

"I don't know. I loved you just a little more every day, I guess. Now, I can't imagine my life without you," Yugi admitted.

Ishizu sat down on the bed beside Yugi and took his head in her hands. She kissed away the tears at the corners of his eyes and said, "I'm sorry, Yugi. I waited so long for this day to come that I did not believe it when it finally arrived. I've been a fool, and I beg your forgiveness. Can you see it in your heart to forgive me?"

Yugi's whole face brightened and his sweet violet eyes shone with happiness. "Yes! Ishizu, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I didn't mean to offend you or anything by suggesting-"

Ishizu cut him off with a long, slow kiss on the lips. When she finished, she said, "Wait here," and got off the bed.

Yugi watched in fascination as she opened a deep aluminum storage trunk and dug around in the bottom of it. She finally pulled out a white tube that was tapered flat on one end and had a screw cap at the other end. "Does my breath stink that badly?" Yugi wondered out loud.

"No, silly. This is spermicide. You see, I really do want to have sex with you. I just don't want kids."

"Wow! When did you get that?" Yugi asked in amazement.

Even though corporate law mandated that their products be made available all over the world, some local customs still held strong. Religious shopkeepers tended to keep contraceptives hidden in the back room until they expired. When law enforcement officers asked why the contraceptives were not on display, the shop owners told them that there was simply no shelf space available and gave the officers a generous "tip" for keeping the streets safe. Only shop owners in deep financial trouble actually sold contraceptives, and usually they were snapped up by wealthy priests and other religious men who wanted to keep them out of the hands of the public. In Egypt, a woman wearing a burqa had a snowball's chance in Hell of obtaining contraceptives.

"One of our novice diggers last year was American. We got into a conversation about birth control. The thing is that he was too chicken to use this stuff without also using a condom because of all the diseases over here. So, I dueled him for it," Ishizu explained.

"Why duel? Why wouldn't he just sell it to you?"

Ishizu lifted her long linen dress over her head, revealing a set of plain cotton undergarments and a fabulously toned body. Her ragged bra barely held her ample breasts, and her panties were somewhat tattered. She looked like an Amazon, wild and free. "He was a horny fellow. When he found out that I wasn't getting any either, he got excited. He offered to use this stuff on me. Since he knew that I was married to you and that I wasn't fucking around, I guess he figured that I was a safe bet as far as diseases went. He was cute, too. I have to admit that I was tempted."

"So, why didn't you do it with him?" Yugi wondered.

Ishizu touched the golden eye at her throat. "He would not have kept his mouth shut. He was an arrogant braggart. Besides, dueling him put him in his place." A broad grin crossed the Egyptian woman's face as she recalled the look on the American's face when she took the last of his life points.

Yugi's violet eyes glowed with interest. "What was his deck like?"

Ishizu saw a little bulge forming inside Yugi's trousers. She lay on the bed beside him and started talking in a low voice about the duel while she undid his trousers. By the time Yugi's dick was free, it was as hard as a rock. She continued talking about the monsters she had played while she applied the spermicide, and Yugi grew even more excited.

"What happened after he destroyed your Agido?" The young man asked.

"Shut up and do me."

"I thought it was, 'shut up and duel me,'" Yugi said, confused.

"It's both. If you do me now, I'll duel you later," Ishizu teased as she slipped off her panties.

"Really? Cool!" Yugi said. He mounted her clumsily and rammed his dick inside her.

Ishizu gasped in pain.

"Did I hurt you? Are you OK?" Yugi asked.

"I will be. I think my hymen grew back. Just keep going."

"I have no idea what you just said. Can we duel now?"

"Yugi!"

"What?"

Ishizu flipped him over on his back and found that his cock had gone soft. "I wasn't done!"

"Oh, Um… Let's have sex while we duel, then," Yugi suggested.

"You've got to be kidding me." Ishizu rolled off the bed and started rummaging through their kitchen supplies.

"What are you doing? I thought we were going to duel!" Yugi called after her.

"I'm trying to find something that would make a good dildo." Ishizu pulled out utensil after utensil, but found none of them satisfactory. They were all too thin, too short, too thick, or too sharp. However, looking through several almost satisfactory tools gave her an idea. She went to her box of personal care items and pulled out her hairbrush. "Bingo!" she exclaimed.

"What's a dildo?" Yugi asked, "Can it help you win a duel?"

"No, but it will keep my hymen from growing back. I'm not going to wait another eight years to have sex with a man; I'm going to have sex with myself!" she declared firmly. Ignoring Yugi's endless stream of questions, she got back on the bed, closed her eyes, and inserted the handle of her hairbrush into herself with a contented sigh.

Yugi eventually realized that it was pointless to keep talking when his wife was not listening to him, so he stopped speaking and began to watch. He had seen her naked plenty of times, but he had never seen her put anything inside her vagina before or touch herself when she was not bathing. Periodically blood would seep out her and she would wear cotton pads inside her panties to catch it. During these times, she was irritable and unhappy. However, she seemed very happy now. She pushed her hairbrush in and out of herself with one hand and stroked the loose folds of hairy skin around it with her other hand.

As Yugi continued to watch, his hand wandered to his own bush and he explored the area he had been told not to touch. Pleasure slowly built up inside him as he watched his sexy Egyptian wife writhe on the bed and his penis became erect again. He started stroking it faster and harder, and his arm began to ache.

Ishizu opened one eye, and was pleasantly surprised to see that her husband had gotten hard again without focusing on duel monsters. Yugi blushed and kept going. If it was OK for his wife to touch herself, why wouldn't it be OK for him? Ishizu grabbed her tube of spermicide and applied more. Then, she swung one leg over her husband and gently directed his hands to her breasts. Yugi had never felt anything so soft and delightful in his life. Being raised by his grandfather from birth, he had missed the opportunity to suckle as an infant. A real breast felt so different from a rubber nipple. At first, Yugi felt them through the holes in her tattered bra. Then, Ishizu unhooked it for him and let it fall away from her body. Yugi watched in fascination as her nipples crinkles in response to the sudden cold air. He ran his fingers over them and found that they were hard, much like his cock.

Ishizu slipped her hips over his and engulfed him with her warm womanhood. This time, there was not any pain. As she worked herself up and down on top of him, they both began to swear profusely in the Egyptian desert heat. However, it bothered them little because they were accustomed to working all day under the blazing sun.

When Ishizu was finally satisfied, she collapsed on top of him and kissed his neck and collar bone, tasting the salt on his skin. Being taller than him, she had to slide her whole body down along his so that she would not scrunch her spine. She rested her head on his chest, and her feet hung over the edge of their mattress. They drifted off to sleep this way, not bothering to cover themselves with sheets or blankets. For the first time in their marriage, everything felt perfect.

**Closing Note:** In case anyone didn't catch on, I implied that Ishizu popped her cherry at least eight years ago, but I didn't say how. It doesn't really matter how for the purposes of this story. However, if anyone would like me to write a one shot on it, please send me a few ideas of what you would like to see in the reviews! I'm not currently inspired to write that story, but maybe with a little motivation…


	32. Meanwhile, at the Wheeler Residence…

**Warning: **More gratuitous sex

**Chapter 32 Meanwhile, at the Wheeler Residence…**

Mai carried Hermos into their little house and set him down in his crib. The boy was getting to be too big for it, but the Wheelers were waiting for a sale or special deal on a big kid bed before they bought him one. Between the two of them, they made a decent living, but they were still careful with their money. Mai held the purse strings, and she was already setting aside money for Hermos to go to college. Even though she had never graduated high school, she still wanted the best for her children, and she wanted more than one.

Mai kissed Hermos on the forehead, and then turned to her husband. She wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and kissed him softly on the lips, purring like a tiger kitten.

"What was that for?" Joey asked with a smile when his lips were free again.

"That was for giving our son the best of your genes," Mai said happily.

"I thought you wanted a girl," Joey joked.

Determination lip up Mai's saucy violet eyes. "I still do. Let's make one!" Mai jumped up on Joey and wrapped her legs around his waist.

"What if it's another boy?" Joey said with a smirk.

"Don't jinx it!" Mai wailed.

Joey carried Mai into their bedroom and laid her down on the bed. "I bet it's going to be a boy," he teased.

"Keep dreaming, honey. It's going to be a girl and we're going to name her Molly." Mai sat up on the edge of the bed and unbuckled Joey's belt.

"It's going to be a boy, and we're going to name him Gearfried," Joey insisted as he pulled the string on Mai's white corset and watched it fall away. Her breasts had grown after nursing Hermos, so they were even larger than before. If she wore a normal bra, it would have been an F cup.

"You and your cards!" Mai whined, "Why can't you pick a normal name?"

Garments continued to fly off both of them. "At least I'm not asking to name him Red Eyes Black Dragon!" Joey paused and looked down at his naked wife thoughtfully. "Now that's an idea! If we have twins or triplets…"

Mai grabbed him roughly and threw him down on the bed. "Don't even think about it!" She then nipped his ear passionately.

Joey moaned at the sensation of his wife's foxy little teeth digging into his flesh. He may have been the man of the house during his teenage years when he took care of his sister, but it was clear to him now that Mai owned him completely. The fact that she had let him name their first child was due more to her disinterest in taking the time to think up a good boy's name than it was an acknowledgement of his masculinity.

"That's better, honey. Now, is your joystick ready? I want to take you for a drive."

Obediently, Joey's dick popped up between Mai's legs. "All tuned up and ready to go!"

Mai lowered herself onto Joey's joystick and made silly fake automotive noises while she shifted around on it. Joey laughed, grabbled one of her huge breasts, and used it like a steering wheel. After about a minute, they dropped the charade and focused on fucking harder and faster than they ever had before. Mai let out a scream of ecstasy as Joey thrust against her g-spot again over and over again. Joey spilled his seed into her, and then lay back, panting.

Mai rolled off Joey and gave him a few moments of rest. Then, she abruptly declared, "Shower time!"

Joey put an arm around Mai. "You always say that!"

"Just because I'm married to a guy doesn't mean I have to smell like one. Come to think of it, you don't have to smell like one, either." Mai wiggled out of Joey's grasp, got to her feet, and yanked on his arm to get him up as well.

"Aw Mai. I just showered yesterday after work," Joey protested.

"You need another one. Trust me," Mai insisted.

Reluctantly but meekly, Joey let her drag him into the shower. They washed each other from head to toe before drying off and going back to bed. This time, they fell asleep in each other's arms and let the day end peacefully.

**Closing Note:** OK, that was just me playing with the relationship dynamics and a little comic relief. I didn't put much thought into Joey and Mai's relationship the first time around. Anyway, please review!


	33. Entropy

**Author's Note: **I'm not too satisfied with this chapter, but I figured I had to do it to give you all a better idea of what the technology team does when it doesn't have a specific task to accomplish, and to show that our technology team leader is just a little crazy.

**Music Lover's Alert: **" If I Had a Hammer" by Trini Lopez (I think it's originally by someone else, but I like the way he sings it best)

**Chapter 33 Entropy**

"We'll have plenty of time to tackle Global Enterprises and Stellar Defense later. Let's take on a more reasonable task right now," Joan urged.

The Noelite leaders were gathered around their great oak table with files scattered all over the place. Each file contained the profile of a powerful corporation that had done something or other to wrong humanity. Not by any coincidence, the files for the most powerful corporations in the world were also the thickest. They also had impenetrable security barriers that would have been nearly impossible for Noel's action team to overcome.

"What about this one?" Sean asked. The redhead slid a much thinner file across the table towards Joan.

Joan picked up the file and read the bold type on the cover aloud, "Flo*rMart?"

"That's a good one. They sell everything at rock-bottom prices while paying their employees rock-bottom wages. The thing is that Flo*rMart sets up stores in relatively wealthy communities and none of the locals are willing to work for next to nothing, but they _will_ buy stuff at low prices. Therefore, Flo*rMart imports laborers from poorer regions to supply the labor," Tulip summarized.

"Why is that a problem?" Joan asked.

"Flo*rMart pays its workers less than they are worth and doesn't reimburse workers for transportation costs to and from the store. Even though it keeps the prices of its goods low, the wages of the workers are pennies to them. Essentially, Flo*rMart drains semi-wealthy communities dry. If Flo*rMart ever comes to your town, leave."

"How many of these stores are there?"

"North America is infested with them. There are over two hundred of them there. There are five in Japan and twenty in Mainland Asia."

"So… what are we supposed to do with all those stores?"

"Well, we don't have to get all of them. I think we'll raise enough of a stir by getting a few on each continent. There's no need to go overboard."

Joan looked around the table. Sean gave a nod of approval while Penguin, Pretty Pictures, and Jamie leaned forward attentively. "OK. Let's play with this one and see if we can make any progress on it. I'll hang out with the creativity team and see if we can generate any good ideas. As for the rest of you, just go do whatever it is you do."

Jamie rubbed his hands together in excitement, and his anthracite eye shone. He had a few projects on the back burner that he wanted to finish. The group broke, and Jamie went to one of the spacious garages in the facility where his small team of engineering geeks was waiting for him.

They were fooling around with some primitive launching devices when he arrived, and he almost got hit in the face with a stinky rolled up sock when he arrived. His team members looked at him sheepishly for a moment after he caught it and dangled it in front of them. Then, they quickly packed away their toys and snapped to attention.

Jamie cleared his throat. "I see that you're all warmed up and ready to start the day. We have a daunting task ahead of us today, but hopefully you are all up to the challenge. Today, we are going to perfect carbon capture technology. That's right! We're going to pull diamonds out of thin air!"

Everyone stared at him with their mouths hanging wide open. Then Grant, a skinny boy with sandy brown hair and a baseball cap, picked up his jaw off the floor and said. "You realize you are asking us to reverse entropy, right?"

"I know there has to be a way to do it. We just have not found it yet," Jamie insisted.

Jakob, another skinny boy with dark brown hair, smiled enthusiastically. "Yeah! It can't hurt to try, right?"

"That's the spirit!" Jamie said, "all right guys, I have a few ideas on some things we could try." Jamie pulled a few pitiful scraps of paper out of his pocket and passed them out among members of his team.

Grant looked down at the scrap of paper that he had been given. It depicted a contraption powered by a hand crank that forced air through a series of filters. "You've got to be kidding me. The most this will do is to remove particulate matter from the air."

"Good. Build it," Jamie ordered, "we've got to start somewhere."

Grant groaned and set about gathering construction materials. The others did the same. As the day wore on, various odd contraptions began to emerge. Jamie wandered around the garage supervising his team's construction efforts and inspecting the operation of each device.

Some of the devices incorporated lights, sounds, or other waves into their design. Other devices required combustion or electric currents. Still others relied on chemical reaction. However, none of them actually accomplished the goal of turning carbon dioxide into diamonds and oxygen gas. By the end of the day, a dozen useless machines sat in the garage.

Grant put down the drill that he was holding, took off his safety goggles, and wiped the perspiration from his brow. "See? I told you it wouldn't work," he said to Jamie.

Jakob unplugged a circular saw and rolled up the cord neatly. "Of course it worked! We had a lot of fun today. That was the whole point, wasn't it?"

Their boss nodded with a satisfied grin. "One of these days we will actually reverse entropy, but until then we might as well enjoy the journey. I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

Jamie left the garage and made his way to the main meeting room. On his way there, he encountered Sean and Tam. They were walking with their arms around each other's waists.

"Hey Jamie!" Tam called, "What's happening?"

"Not much yet," Jamie replied, "the guys and I were mainly just training today. What about you?"

"Same. With so many different Flo*rMart stores, out there, we didn't see much point in focusing on any one of them in particular just yet," Sean explained.

"Hey Jamie, do you think that your team could put together some equipment for us?" Tam asked.

"Probably. It all depends on what you need," Jamie answered.

Tam spoke more slowly, batting her eyelashes a little as she spoke. "Well, technically it's a medical device, but for our purposes it is going to serve a different function."

"OK… what do _we_ want it to do?" Jamie asked, his anthracite eyes shining with interest.

Tam grinned broadly and ground her hip into Sean's pelvis. "_We_ want it to erase people's memories. It would be a good thing to have just in case someone connects the dots while we are out on a mission."

Jamie looked as if he was about to explode with excitement. "Such a device exists? And it really works?"

"Yeah. It's called electroconvulsive shock therapy, or ECT for short. It is administered to patients with severe depression when all the anti-depressant medications and other therapies fail. Memory loss is a side-effect of the treatment, but in our case that's exactly what we are going for," Tam explained.

"Whow! How did you find out about this thing?"

"I minored in psychology," Tam said with a shrug.

The group reached the door of the grand meeting room and paused outside. Jamie did a little dance and said, "Oh my god! Send me some specs for this thing and I'll build it for you!"

"Thanks, Jamie!" Tam said brightly. She disengaged herself from Sean and gave Jamie a gigantic kiss.

Just then, Pretty Pictures and her younger brother Trevor came walking down the hall. They approached the door of the meeting room and stopped, observing Tam's intimate interaction with the leader of the technology team.

Tam noticed the leader of the creativity team waiting and let go of Jamie. "Well, enjoy your meeting!"

"You can join us if you want," Pretty Pictures offered.

"No thanks. Too many cooks in the kitchen and all that. Besides…" she drifted over to Trevor and linked arms with him, "someone needs to take care of your brother while you're in there."

"He can take care of himse-oh! OK, have fun!"

Tam grinned happily and skipped away down the hall with Trevor while the others went inside the meeting room. Joan and Penguin were already there waiting for them. Penguin stole a kiss from Pretty Pictures as they sat down and tried to steal one from Sean as well, but he spent so much time kissing Joan that Penguin gave up. Jamie would have done almost anything for a chance to kiss the picturesque bisexual bottle blonde, but men did not kiss her; _she_ kissed _them_.

When they were done greeting each other, they sat down and got down to business. "What kind of ideas did you come up with?" Joan asked Pretty Pictures.

"First, I thought we would do something to the products like we did with Pattel Corporation. However, that would not make much sense because Flo*rMart sells stuff from many different corporations including Pattel, Schroeder, and Bestle. We could do something to the employees, though."

"Like what?" Joan asked nervously. Although Noel did not have many rules regarding its operation, they had one strict rule: no killing unless it protected the life (not liberty) of another. Killing was the ultimate way of preventing a person from remembering details about Noel, but if too many bodies started stacking up around Rakitan Industries, people would start to ask questions anyway. Plus, enough people had already died in the past years at the hands of corporations.

"Since the employees are victims of Flo*rMart as much as the towns are, we could hack into Flo*rMart's computer system and give the CEO a pay cut while the employees get a raise. What do you think?" Jessica asked.

Tulip straightened his glasses. "I think that it would be a nice temporary gesture, but we can't risk doing it on an ongoing basis."

"Why not?"

"The more often we do it, the more likely we are to get caught at it. We have put in place several measures to prevent hackees from hacking back into us, but those will only go so far."

"All right, What else can we do?" Joan asked.

Pretty Pictures's chocolate eyes narrowed. "We have to do something to the stores themselves, then - all of them," she added.

"Seriously? All two hundred plus stores?" Sean asked.

"You got a problem with that?" Penguin asked in defense of her girlfriend.

"Yes. I don't have the staff to pull off that kind of stuff," Sean said firmly.

"It could be something really simply like dropping a banner in front of the stores."

"Um, once we drop a banner at one stores, they would be on the lookout for us at the other stores," Sean pointed out.

"That's why we drop them all simultaneously with a special device. Jamie, do you think you could design an automatic banner dropping device for us?" Joan asked.

"Yeah! No problem!" Jamie said.

"There. Now you can take your time installing them. Right, Sean?" Joan asked.

"I guess so," Sean agreed.

They continued to discuss aspects of their new project, sorting out details until everyone was either satisfied or too tired to continue discussing the problems. After that, they went to whichever beds appealed to them most that night.

**Closing Note: **I know that chapter was a little awkward in some places and I did my best to fix it, but as I said before I'm more of a scientist than a writer.


	34. Wife

**Warning: **Lemon

**Author's Note:** I originally wrote this right after chapter 26, so Janet gets younger again here. She's really more of a prop at this point, so I guess I could have fixed her age to comply with the chapter order, but… I have no excuse. I just didn't feel like changing it, OK?

**Music Lover's Alert: **I have a few for this because just one song by itself doesn't seem to fit. So, feel free to enjoy "How Deep Is Your Love" by the Bee Gees, "Don't" by Billy Currington, and/or "Promises" and "Tears of Pearls" by Savage Garden, depending on your taste in music and how you want to interpret this chapter.

**Chapter 34 Wife**

Mokuba lay on the couch with his head in Serenity's lap looking up into her sweet olivine eyes. Janet was sitting on the floor beside them stacking colorful wooden blocks and knocking them over. Every now and then, she would stop and focus on an individual block and say its color or shape aloud. Sometimes she did not know the right words and would call to Mokuba or Serenity for help. When this happened, the adults would identify the block for her.

Most of the time, however, Janet just babbled and giggled while she built tower after tower. Mokuba could not help but thinking that there was nowhere he would rather be right now. _With my head in my wife's lap and my daughter - wait! What am I thinking? I don't have a wife? But why does this feel so right?_ "Serenity?" he said timidly.

"Mmm hmm," Serenity purred, stroking his long raven black hair.

"When Joey sent me away to find a date, all I could think about was coming back home to you."

Serenity froze. Conflicting emotions nearly choked the life out of her, and she knew that the only way she could ever breathe easily again was to say exactly what was on her mind. "Mokuba, I don't want to stop you from seeing other people. It's not fair to you. I love you too much to deny you that opportunity."

"Mommy!" Janet called, gripping one of her blocks and waving it around in the air.

"That's a yellow cube," Serenity said.

"Yeyo coob," Janet repeated.

"I know," Mokuba said softly, "It's just that I'm not in the mood to go out and _hunt down_ a girlfriend right now. If one comes to me that's one thing, but it's just that I wouldn't leave you for her. It would not be fair if I chased after a girl and _then_ she found out that I already had someone. However, if _she_ comes to _me_ and loves me as much as I love you, she might understand and it might work out."

Serenity was silent for a moment. It had never really struck her until now that Mokuba might become a permanent fixture in her life. She thought that he would be a passing phase the way Mai was to Seto. However, Mokuba was _serious_ and she could not deny that her own feelings for him had grown as well. She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. Then, her practical interest kicked in. "What if all the girls who might understand you are in the same boat? What if they have husbands or lovers who are too busy to be with them sometimes, but they are afraid to seek out new people because of the exact same reasons you just stated?"

"That's what the internet if for. If I really want someone else in my life, I'll make an anonymous profile on some dating website that nobody can trace and tell people that I already have a wife-but that's not what I want to do right _now_. If Seto starts coming home early and I start feeling lonely, then I'll do that, but right _now_ I just want to be with you."

"Did you say 'wife?'"

Mokuba blushed a deep crimson red. "I guess I did. Um… Maybe I should have used another word?"

Serenity shook her head, and the tips of her auburn hair tickled Mokuba's face. "No, I like it. You and you brother have a habit of reading my mind before _I_ even know what is on it."

Mokuba smiled softly and thought back to the days when Seto had called Serenity his girlfriend before they had even kissed. It had bothered him at the time because he was not sure whether his big brother was serious about the girl he loved or not. Now, he was more worried about what his brother would think about his relationship with the woman they both loved.

"Uncle Mokuba!" Janet called, holding up another block.

"That's a blue cylinder," Mokuba told her.

"Bloo Silinder," Janet pronounced as best she could.

Mokuba sighed and looked back up at his wife. Just being with her made him feel so _happy_. He wasn't the first one to marry her and they did not have a legal document to prove it, but their marriage was still _real_. They lived together, they made love to each other, and they slept together on the couch frequently. Mokuba even cared for her offspring. If that wasn't marriage, what was it?

Mokuba drifted off to sleep in his wife's lap. When Seto arrived home, Serenity was still awake and Janet was just nodding off to sleep on the floor. When Serenity saw Seto enter the living room, she put her finger to her lips and placed a pillow under Mokuba's head as she gently scooted out from under him. She then picked up Janet and went upstairs with her first husband.

When they had put Janet to sleep in her crib and they were finally alone, Serenity asked, "Seto, do you ever worry that Janet might grow up knowing Mokuba better than she knows you?"

They started strolling to the bedroom as Seto answered, "No. Mokuba is a good influence. Besides, she's too young to know much of _anything_ right now," he replied flatly.

"Is it because she's a girl and not a boy that you aren't spending much time with her?" Serenity asked.

Seto liked at his wife with tired, dull blue eyes. "I got her to say my name this morning," he pointed out.

"True. Yeah, that counts," Serenity admitted.

Seto wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered in her ear. "So, have I been good enough to get a reward, my lady?"

The tickle of his cool breath in her ear made Serenity tingle inside. Instantly, she forgot all about her other husband downstairs and became Seto's master and protector. "Yes my darling, you have almost earned your reward. However, you must do a few thing to please _me_ first."

Seto kneeled in front of her and prepared himself to take orders. The stress of the day flaked off his body like dead skin cells when he submitted himself to her will. "_Anything_ for you my love, _anything_."

Serenity laid her delicate hands on the shoulders of his white trench coat and pulled it back until it dropped away from his body. Seto continued to kneel there with his beautiful blue eyes looking up at her expectantly. Serenity unzipped her blue jeans and kicked them off along with her panties. Then, she jumped on the huge bed and lay there with her legs apart. "Suck my clit," she commanded.

Seto crawled onto the bed and did as he was told, tasting the succulent, tangy flavor of his wife's orchid. As he did so, Serenity ran her fingers through his loose brown hair and re-adjusted his rhythm whenever she desired him to go faster, slower, harder, or softer.

Finally, she could not take it any longer. She wanted - no, _needed_ - him inside her. She yanked him up by the collar of his black silk shirt and kissed him roughly. Then, she unbuckled his tight leather pants with her other hand. His hard, precious little member strained against the confines of his black briefs until Serenity pulled those down as well.

"Fuck me, you naughty boy!" Serenity said into his ear.

Seto obeyed. He dove into her and pleasured her g-spot until it started to hurt and he begged for mercy.

"All right, Seto. You can cum," his wife finally said.

Seto shot his load into her and collapsed from exertion. He rolled off her and fell asleep almost instantly on top of the covers. Serenity gazed at him and sighed. The man had no clue what was transpiring while we was away. All the signs were there, but he was simply too busy to notice them. Perhaps he did notice the signs, but ignored them because he fully trusted his brother or because he simply didn't know what to say.

**Closing Note:** Sorry again about messing up Janet's age. Please review!


	35. ECT

**Chapter 35 ECT**

The sun had just set and the parking lot was relatively quiet. An occasional shopper passed, too busy thumbing a smart phone to pay much attention to the rest of the world. Salt and Pepper hoisted a long, black tubular device several meters into the air to the top of an entranceway of a Flo*rMart supercenter.

"What is this thing for again?" asked a store supervisor from the doorway.

Like the supervisor, Salt and Pepper were wearing Flo*rMart uniforms that the creativity team had tailored for all members of the action team. They also had counterfeit badges that identified them as global Flo*rMart employees.

"It's a new customer identification system that will scan everyone walking into the store and monitor their purchases," Salt said. Given that the men were installing a large black tube, it could feasibly be anything they said it was.

"I thought we already did that," the supervisor said in a confused tone.

"Yeah, but this is an upgrade," Salt said.

"So, why are all the security cameras offline?"

"That's part of the calibration process," Salt recited as Tulip had instructed him to do.

"But the cameras went offline before you even arrived," the supervisor complained.

Salt and Pepper finished securing the black tube above the entrance to the store and then looked at each other. With a few twitches of their facial muscles and other gestures, they exchanged some ideas.

Taking their silence as rudeness, the supervisor said angrily, "Gentlemen, this is unacceptable. I was not notified about this instillation in adva-ah!" The supervisor screamed as the two burly twins caught him off-guard. Pepper clamped his hand over the man's mouth while Salt secured a pair of padded electrodes around the supervisor's head. Pepper held the struggling man tightly while Salt plugged the ECT machine into a nearby outlet and flipped a switch.

The supervisor convulsed, and would have hurt himself severely if Pepper had not kept a firm grip on him. Even as it was, he bruised himself in several places.

When the shocking was over, Pepper hoisted the man over his broad shoulders and carried him inside the building. Salt followed with one of the ladders that they had used to set up Noel's project. The brothers set up the latter in the supervisor's office and made it look like he had fallen while trying to redecorate it. Since there were no security cameras in the office, it was the perfect place for an accident. When he woke up, he would probably be too embarrassed by his situation to raise an investigation into it.

Salt and Pepper went out to the parking lot where a light truck with more tubes sat waiting for them. It was a pitiful thing that the technology team had put together for them. The members of the action team who had gone to Mainland Asia and North America had used rental vehicles, but since Salt and pepper were assigned to the island that had once been Japan, the Noelites found it more convenient to provide them with a crappy white Schroeder Automotive truck that one of them already owned.

Pepper got in the driver's seat and tried to start the vehicle, but all it did was to sputter pathetically. "Shit," Pepper said.

"What's wrong?" his brother asked.

"Hell if I know."

"Figures. That's just what we get for taking this Schroeder piece of shit," Salt mused in agreement.

With a sigh and a nod, they both got out of the vehicle and started figuring out what to do. After a brief look under the hood of the truck assured them that there was nothing they knew how to fix, they walked back towards the store and weighed their options. Flo*rMart had an automotive section and a repair shop around the side of the building, but the mechanics did not arrive until 7am. Salt and Pepper still had a few more stores to visit before then, and if they did not meet their deadline the banners would drop and they would be caught red-handed.

For the security of Noel, all of the banners had internal timers rather than remotely controlled mechanisms with signals that could be intercepted or falsely triggered. While Tulip probably could have figured out a way to encrypt a remotely controlled mechanism, he already had his hands full hacking into every single one of Flo*rMart's security camera systems. The cameras would go down shortly before the action team members arrived and stay down for an hour after they left. The team members called Tulip and spoke in code to tell him when they were nearing each Flo*rMart facility, but stating their problems clearly over the phone could tip off Global Communications to their plans. If the men could not figure out a way to stay on schedule and cover their tracks, they might as well turn themselves into the authorities right then and there.

While Salt and Pepper were contemplating their dilemma, the solution pulled right in front of them on eighteen wheels. After a short, silent discussion, the brothers decided to go for it.

The truck driver rolled down the window of his vehicle and leaned out. "Are you boys here to unload 'er for me?"

"Yeah," Pepper called back, "Just pull 'er around the back and we'll take care of 'er!"

With their Flo*rMart uniforms and bulging biceps, the twins were easily mistaken for regular members of the docking and loading crew. However, once they finished waving the truck into its dock, they were noticed by the store's fulltime employees.

"Hey kids, you new here?" asked a seasoned employee on a forklift.

"Yeah," Salt answered dumbly.

The seasoned employee tossed him a clipboard. "Fill out that shit and take it to the office."

Salt looked down at the paper on the clipboard. It was full of tedious boxes to check, and obviously not the preferred task of the unloading crew members. However, he had a feeling that it would save his hide. _It says to have the driver check in with the store supervisor_, Salt communicated to his brother through a series of scratches, ear tuggings, and blinks.

_Stall him. I'll meet you there first with the ECT machine_, Pepper motioned back.

Salt gave a brief nod and started asking the driver all kinds of questions that were not actually on the form, but somewhat similar. Meanwhile, Pepper snuck away from the docking area and made his way back into the store. He picked up a 1.5 liter bottle of sake on the way to the supervisor's office for good measure. When he got there, the supervisor was just re-gaining consciousness.

"Hey, what happened? Who are you?" the supervisor asked.

Pepper set down the bottle of sake on the table and said, "I just finished installing some upgrades to your store. Let's celebrate."

"What upgrades? I don't remember anything about upgrades."

"You hit your head pretty hard when you were trying to put up your 'Supercenter of the Year' plaque," Pepper elaborated.

"Supercenter of the year? Why, that is something to drink to! Pass that sake over here, son!" He grabbed a smaller vessel from a nearby shelf, filled it from the large bottle, and set it in a microwave for a few seconds. "Say, where is that plaque anyway?"

"It broke when you fell. We're ordering a new one for you," Pepper said as he unpacked the ECT machine from the backpack he carried. He plugged it into the wall and added, "In the meantime, I have another surprise for you. It's a little electronic toy that just came out."

The supervisor brought the sake back to his desk and set it down. "I'm not one much for video games," he said with uncertainty.

Pepper walked behind the supervisor's chair with the headset and secured it around his temples. "This one is really easy. You just flip a switch and…"

The supervisor convulsed violently for the second time that day while Pepper held him down in his chair. When that was over, Pepper poured some sake on him and let his body slump forward onto the desk. Then he stood by the door and prepared to tackle the truck driver as soon as he walked inside.

The door opened, and Salt pushed the truck driver into the office first. The truck driver saw the supervisor passed out on his desk with a half-empty bottle of sake and started to say, "What the-" but Pepper sprang up behind him and subdued him with Salt's help.

The truck driver also received an ECT treatment. Then there were two men in the office who appeared to have drunk themselves silly. Salt grabbed the keys to the truck off the driver and put on his hat for good measure. Then, Pepper went out and got the tubes from their broken truck. They were a little cumbersome to carry all at once, but Pepper managed.

Salt pulled the truck driver's hat low over his face and set out toward the giant Flo*rMart truck. The crew had just finished unloading it and sealed it back up. Pepper gave a grunt and a nod to them as he climbed into the truck and inserted the key. His nerves almost got the better of him when he heard the mighty engine roar, but he had come too far to give up now. He cautiously drove the truck around to the front of the building and stopped. Without turning off the engine, he helped Pepper load the tubes into the back of the truck and hopped back in the driver's seat. The brothers took off down the road with their hearts pounding like mad, but refused to look back.

Pepper dialed Tulip on his cell phone and spoke to him in their established code, "We just planted another tree. Had to clear a few roots this time. The chainsaw came in handy."

"Good. Any problems with the chainsaw?" Tulip asked.

"Nope. It worked perfectly. We might need more potting soil, though. Our saplings are now in a much bigger pot," Pepper said.

"_What_?" Tulip asked in surprise.

"The old pot broke, so we had to transplant everything. The only pot we could find was about ten times the size, so we need about ten times the potting soil."

Tulip listened for a moment and realized that there was a lot more background noise than usual coming over the phone. "Oh my God. You're serious."

"Yep! We've got about twenty tons of terra cotta here."

"And you're still going to deliver on schedule?"

"Of course!"

Tulip was silent for a few moments. "All right. Just work quickly, OK?"

"Yes, sir!" Pepper replied.

The brothers completed the rest of their "plantings" with more ease than the first few. Having a Flo*rMart truck in addition to their uniforms gave them more credibility with the supervisors. By the time the original driver of their truck started to ask questions, it was securely hidden inside one of the massive garages at Rakitan Industries that had once housed obsolete military tanks.


	36. Little Dick

**Music Lover's Alert: **"If You Were Gay" from Avenue Q

**Chapter ****36 Little Dick**

Serenity and Mokuba brought Janet over to the Wheeler house for a playdate with Hermos one fine Saturday morning. Janet was now toddling like Hermos, and the two of them had a lot to discuss. Hermos's room was not quite as full of toys as Janet's was, but his toys were homemade and unique in Janet's eyes.

While Janet and Hermos were rolling some brightly painted tin cans back and forth, Joey called out from the living room, "Hey sis! Dat store dad used to take us to before we moved to Domino is on TV!"

Serenity excused herself from the playing children, leaving Mai and Mokuba to supervise them. As soon as Serenity left, Mai scrutinized Mokuba with her sharp violet eyes and said. "So what exactly is a single stud like you doing taking on domestic duties on a day like today?"

The raven-haired man played it as cool as possible, but under her falcon-like gaze, he worried that she could tell that he was not exactly single anymore. "I don't know. I guess most of the girls in Domino aren't my type."

Mai noticed that he hot young Kaiba brother was acting very strangely, but she could not put her finger on exactly what it was. "Mokuba, are you gay?"

"What? _No_!"

Janet looked up at the adults and asked sadly, "Uncle Mokuba not gay?"

"Not today, Janet. I'm just happy today," he explained with the best smile he could muster.

Janet smiled back and said, "Uncle Mokuba happy," and then went back to playing with the tin can.

Mai leaned forward and spoke more softly. "You know, it's OK if you're gay. I could even hook you up with a friend of mine if you want."

"Really, Mai. I'm not gay, and I don't think that any of your friends would appreciate being hooked up with me. It's just not a good idea," he said in the same soft tone.

"Oh! I get it. You have a," she gestured with her fingers to indicate something small, and then pointed at his groin. "They make pills for that, you know."

Mokuba blushed and wondered why she would think that. However, it would be easier to let her believe it to be true than to give her the opportunity to make another guess at why he was not seeking new female companions. "Thanks, Mai. I'll keep that in mind," he said awkwardly.

"Don't mention it, hun," she said with a wink.

Mokuba was silent for a long time, letting the innocent voices of the children fill the void. He did not know _why_ things had to be the way they were, but he knew that saying too much could open the door to trouble.

Meanwhile, Joey and Serenity were watching Cheryl Gardner interview a Flo*rMart truck driver and supervisor. Behind her, a huge banner read, "Creating poverty since 1962." The banner hung down from a black cylinder about three meters long that sat right below the Flo*rMart neon sign. It covered the store entrance so that customers had to walk around it to get inside. However, police had taped off the entire area for examination and a crowd of impatient customers was forming outside the store. Some people got back in their cars and drove away while others parked their butts on the curb and watched the police work.

Tea's older sister flashed her pearly whites at the camera and spoke into her Global Communications microphone. Much like her sister, she had chin-length brown hair and azure eyes. She also enjoyed repeating herself a lot, but that was part of her job. After an unnecessarily long introduction, she said, "These men say that Noelite terrorists held them at gunpoint and hijacked a Flo*rMart truck to carry out their devilish plans. Gentlemen, can you tell us what your attackers looked like?"

Too embarrassed to admit that they had woken up in their office with a huge, almost empty bottle of sake, the Flo*rMart employees invented a story to please the camera crew and their relatives who might be watching at home. "There were five of them and they were all complete thugs," the supervisor began.

"They drove up on motorcycles and they all had spiked hair and lots of piercings and black leather jackets," the driver elaborated, "There were three bikes, and the two guys on the back of the bikes - they had the guns."

"The guy on the bike without a rider - he did all the talking," the supervisor interjected.

"He had a Mohawk and a nose ring and a tattoo of a snake around his arm," the driver embellished.

"He told us to either turn over the keys to the truck or get shot, so we did."

"But not without a fight. I wrestled one of the guys with the guns. That's how I got these bruises. See? Here and here and here," the driver pointed to a few purple spots on his arms that had formed during his convulsions.

"And I got twice as many," the supervisor bragged, pointing to his own bruised arms."

Cheryl Gardner spoke again. "Thank you so much, gentlemen. You have done the government a great service today. By your descriptions, we should be able to catch and apprehend these terrorists. I'm Cheryl Gardner with Global Communications News. We'll have more exciting updates for you after these messages."

A commercial with a body builder wearing Kalvin Clein underwear started to play, and Joey muted the television set. "Weird, huh?" he commented.

"Yeah, Something doesn't fit," Serenity said.

"Yeah. Why would someone terrorize Flo*rMart?" Joey wondered.

"My thoughts exactly. Remember the thing with Pattel and how Noel sent a video to explain why they did it?" Serenity said.

"Yeah, kinda."

"Why didn't they send a video this time?"

Joey scrunched up his brow in an attempt to think, but his reasoning skills failed him. "I dunno. You lost me, sis. Maybe there wasn't one."

"Or maybe… switch the channel, Joey," Serenity said thoughtfully.

"Why? I like this channel."

"Joey, if there was a video and it explained the _real_ reason why Noel pulled that trick on Flo*rMart, Global Communications might have decided not to show it."

"That's ridiculous. Global Communications brings us fair and balanced news. Besides, if we switch to a different channel, we might miss something. Hey! It's back on!" Joey unmuted the television and Cheryl Gardner started talking again.

Serenity sighed and went back to play with the children. The world seemed so much more complicated today than it had been when she was sixteen. She had left Domino to spend a week helping Seto and Mokuba build Duel Academy, but when she came back the whole world was different. Serenity had not been present to witness the turmoil that took place during the time the corporations took control of all governments around the world. She had not even heard horror stories of what had happened after the fact. Everyone left alive either supported the government, was afraid to say anything bad about the government, or, in Joey's case, inclined to leave all the big decisions in the hands of smarter people.

Serenity's mind wandered to the blonde who had spoken for Noel the first time they appeared in public. She certainly had a lot she wanted to say about the government. Had she been arrested and locked away? No, that would have been on the news for sure. Either way, the description the Flo*rMart employees gave of the five Noelite "thugs" did not match up with Serenity's memory of Penguin. Penguin had too much of a snobby attitude to work with low-class men who spiked their hair and pierced their faces. She was more like a sorority girl who could probably afford to hire professionals. Perhaps the thugs were a decoy? Whatever the case was, the Noelites secretly intrigued Serenity.


	37. Publicity

**Author's Note:** I've been playing with images more and made a new cover. That's Penguin on the monitor at the bottom. I'll probably change the cover again to something else later, but if you want to go and look at all the OCs and old covers, you can check out my writer profile on Facebook.

**Music Lover's Alert: **"The Pirate Radio Song" by David Rovics and/or "Radio Retaliation" by Thievery Corporation. I looked for "The Pirate Radio Song" on youtube, but only found his other pirate songs. Those aren't the ones you want. So, I just uploaded the right one on my channel.

**Chapter 37 Publicity**

"You mean I did all that work for _nothing_?" Penguin screeched at Tulip. Her hazel eyes glowed hot, and she clenched a fist so hard that she broke one of recently manicured nails.

"No, some people saw your tape," Tulip replied meekly.

"How many?" Penguin demanded.

"Based on the viewership of the independent news stations, I'd say about two million," Tulip estimated.

"I wanted two _billion_ at least!"

Sean yawned and kicked back in his chair. "Quit being such a prima donna."

"Shut up and be grateful, bitch! If it wasn't for me, nobody would know why we are doing what we do," Penguin barked.

The other Noelites in the room shifted uncomfortably, but Sean stared at her with hard brown eyes. "Call me a bitch one more time."

"Bitch-eee!"

Before anyone could blink, Sean had jumped out his chair, grabbed the mouthy blonde by the waist, and bent her over the table. He then lifted up her short pink skirt and spanked her with his firm, calloused hand. Penguin squealed as the unexpected blows hit her bottom and her cheeks turned a rosy red. Since she was wearing a thong, everyone could see.

When she fully registered the humiliation that her girlfriend was enduring, the first impulse that Pretty Pictures had was to run to her girlfriend's aid. However, after further consideration, she realized that Penguin had it coming and that interfering in Sean's dispensation of justice could earn her a spanking, too.

Sean stopped spanking Penguin before either of them developed welts that would last longer than a few hours. By this time, she was trembling and whimpering in such a way that Sean took pity on her. He picked her up again, carried her back to his chair, and held her against him in such a way that there would be no pressure on her sore rear end. All the other Noelites stared in shocked silence as he stroked her hair and kissed her forehead.

Sean shot Joan a smile and said, "I think we're ready to move on now."

Joan blinked and said, "Right. So, the thing to keep in mind here is that we're all in this together. If one part of our system fails, the rest of us should step in and try to fix it in a _constructive_ manner."

Penguin sniffled and buried her face in Sean's chest.

"So, what _can_ we do to make sure that our message gets out next time?" Joan asked.

Pretty Pictures looked at the information team leader thoughtfully and said, "Can we hack into Global Communications directly and force them to broadcast the video?"

Tulip straightened his glasses. "It's possible, but I'd really have to look into it more. Global Enterprises keeps such a tight grip on all of their branches in terms of security that it would be really hard to do it without getting caught. We might get away with it once, but the second time they would be expecting us and they would trace our location."

"What if we did it off-site, somewhere they couldn't catch all of us and the risk would be lower?" Joan asked.

"Yeah, but where?" Tulip wondered.

"Cousin Monica's farm," Sean said to himself.

"Who? I didn't know you had a cousin," Joan said.

"Not my cousin, Salt and Pepper's cousin. She has a ranch slash farm out in the country with her wife Angela. International Communications put up a broadcast tower on their property years ago before people started buying cable TV. It might still work."

Tulip thought for a moment. "Old technology, eh? That could work to our advantage. The new equipment has more identity features that would tell Global Communications which one was tampered with, but the old ones are much simpler. Let's check it out!"

Sean patted Penguin's head and said, "Feel better now, dear?"

"Yeah," Penguin admitted.

"Good. Let's get on to the next order of business," Joan said, "what are we going to do with that giant truck?"

"Truck!?" Penguin, Jessica, and Jamie asked in surprise.

"Yeah. My boys commandeered it when their truck died," Sean said proudly.

"We stole someone's truck!?" Pretty Pictures said, aghast.

"That depends on whether or not you consider corporations people. Under the government's law they are people, but under the bylaws of our organization, they are specifically-" Tulip started to explain.

"-Yeah, we know. Get to the point," Penguin demanded.

"It is Flo*rMart's truck, class eight," Joan summarized.

Jamie's anthracite eyes widened. "Seriously!? I would do _anything_ to get my hands on a beast like that."

"I was hoping you would say that. We need someone to keep it tuned up in case we need it again. Also, chance the license plates on it and paint it ASAP. I'm sure the police are looking for it," Joan said.

Jamie nodded and replied, "Yes ma'am! Where will I get the license plates, though?"

"Tulip, you find an appropriate number to use and Pretty Pictures, you paint it or enamel it or whatever you did when you made these," Joan tapped the little circular medallion that was set into the table in front of her, "and made it look official."

"I get to forge a license plate? Cool!" Pretty Pictures exclaimed.

"Yes. Now, is there anything left to discuss that wasn't on our agenda?" Joan asked.

Based on the contented silence in the room, the answer was clearly "no."

"All right, meeting adjourned."

Sean stood up with Penguin in his arms and dumped her in the lap of Pretty Pictures. Then, he put and arm around Joan's shoulder and left with her. The other ream leaders packed up their things and went their own ways.


End file.
